Want to check your hourly or monthly pay first? The Danish pay calculator (in Danish) compares it with the minimum rate in your collective agreement on the date your pay period starts.
What is a payslip check?
A payslip check (løntjek) is a review of your payslip. You check that the hours, rates and percentages match what you are entitled to under your contract, your collective agreement and Danish law. This guide gives the Danish word in brackets, so you can find it on your payslip.
A payslip is a calculation. Hours times rate gives your pay. Supplements (tillæg) are added, and pension and the free choice account (fritvalg) are calculated as percentages of your pay. Finally, ATP, the labour market contribution (AM-bidrag) and income tax (A-skat) are deducted. A payslip check works the calculation out again.
What you need
- Your payslip, ideally last month's as well.
- Your contract: your pay, your hours and your job title.
- The collective agreement, if you are covered by one. You can get it from your trade union (fagforening) or your shop steward (tillidsrepræsentant).
- Your rota or timesheet (vagtplan or timeseddel), so you can see when you worked.
- Your preliminary tax assessment (forskudsopgørelse) on skat.dk. It shows your withholding rate (trækprocent) and your allowance (fradrag).
Your Danish payslip explained, line by line
Start at the top of the payslip. For each line: what should it match, and what is the typical error?
- Hours. Should match your rota or timesheet. Typical error: missing hours.
- Hourly or monthly pay (timeløn or månedsløn). Must be at least the rate your contract and collective agreement give for the period. Typical error: the old rate after a rate change (satsskift).
- Evening, night and weekend supplements. Must have the collective agreement's rate and cover the right hours. Typical error: the supplement starts an hour too late.
- Overtime (overarbejde). Hours beyond your normal working hours often have to be paid with a supplement under the collective agreement. Typical error: paid as ordinary hours.
- Pension. Both your own contribution and your employer's must have the collective agreement's percentage. Typical error: the old percentage.
- Free choice account and SH (fritvalg and SH). Also a percentage of your pay, and it goes up too. Typical error: the percentage did not keep up.
- Holiday pay and holiday supplement (feriepenge and ferietillæg). Must be calculated on all of your holiday-qualifying pay. Typical error: the basis is too small, for example without supplements or overtime.
- ATP. Depends on how many hours you have worked. Typical error: the wrong rate for your hours.
- Labour market contribution (AM-bidrag). 8% of your pay, after your own pension contribution and ATP have been deducted.
- Income tax (A-skat). Must follow the withholding rate and allowance on your preliminary tax assessment. Typical error: your employer uses a secondary tax card (bikort) where it should be your main tax card (hovedkort).
If you are an apprentice (lærling), also check that you are on the right step. Check your apprentice pay (in Danish) from your start date and step.
Check your pay every month
Most errors start in a particular month and stay there. So put your payslip next to last month's, and see what has changed, and why.
Pay extra attention when something changes: a rate change, a new step, a new contract or more hours than usual. The rate changes are listed in the rate change calendar (in Danish).
Want to practise first? In Find fejlen (Spot the error, in Danish) you get five payslips covering Commerce, Industry, Nurses and IT. Click the lines you think are wrong, and see the answer with clause and amount.
Found an error?
Write to the payroll office or your manager, and describe the line, the period and the amount. If your employer does not correct the error, contact your trade union. As a rule, a pay claim becomes time-barred after 3 years, so do not wait.
See the full procedure in the guide to pay errors.
Payslip checks for trade unions and payroll bureaus
Payslip Check is also the name of the core of PayTjek. It checks the whole calculation on the payslip: the Danish collective agreement's rates and terms, ATP, AM-bidrag, A-skat, holiday, balances and year to date. Every assessment comes with the clause, the verbatim quote and the amount in kroner.
Trade unions use it in member cases, where the union consultant checks two years of payslips at once. Payroll bureaus use it to check the payroll run before the pay goes out. See all the modules under Product.
Questions and answers
How do I check my payslip in Denmark?
Find your payslip, contract, collective agreement and rota. Check the hours against the rota, the rate and supplements against the collective agreement, and the percentages for pension, free choice account and holiday pay against the basis. Finally, check ATP, AM-bidrag and A-skat.
Can my trade union check my pay?
Many trade unions offer to check their members' payslips. Ask your trade union or your shop steward.
How often should I check my pay?
Every month, and especially when something changes: a rate change, a new step, a new contract or different hours.
What do I do if the payslip check shows an error?
Write to your employer, and ask them to correct the error and pay what you are owed. If that does not happen, contact your trade union. Read more in the guide to pay errors.
Where can I see my withholding rate?
On your preliminary tax assessment (forskudsopgørelse) on skat.dk. It should match the withholding rate and allowance shown on your payslip.
