Reforms to sick leave pay or sygedagpenge were presented by Denmark’s Ministry of Employment on Thursday in a move the government says will cut administrative costs.

At a briefing, Employment Minister Ane Halsboe-Jørgensen called the planned changes a “debureaucratisation” of the existing sick pay system.

The move means ineffective rules added to the system over a number of years will now be cut, Halsboe-Jørgensen said.

“It will be easier to plan a period of sick leave based on the needs of the individual,” she said.

That means a more “flexible” system that can be adapted to fit the individual based on their specific health situation, so different criteria and rules will be applied to different people.

For example, the requirements will be less stringent for people on sick leave who have a job to return to once given medical clearance.

An existing rule requiring people on sick leave to attend four meetings with their local municipality will be scrapped for people with “short-term and uncomplicated situations”, who will instead attend a single meeting.

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At the briefing, Halsboe-Jørgensen gave an example of an “uncomplicated situation” as somebody with a broken leg and no “social challenges”.

“In reality, life situations will also define it,” she said.

Several other sick pay rules are to be simplified in the agreement, which the government says will save 79 million kroner per year when it takes effect in 2025.

Some 86,000 people received full time sick pay in 2023.

The agreement is backed by the coalition government alongside opposition parties that have already agreed to work with it on sick pay reforms: the Socialist People’s Party (SF), Social Liberals, Liberal Alliance, Conservatives and Danish People’s Party. This gives it a clear majority in parliament.