Examples of cases – worker under EU law

An Italian citizen travels to Denmark in July 2024. On 26 August 2024, he gets a job working 10 hours a week earning 120 kr. an hour.  In September 2024, he starts studying and applies for SU. We approve that he can receive SU as worker under EU law from September. He can then receive SU as long as he studies and, at the same time, works a minimum of 10–12 hours a week.

A German citizen travels to Denmark in April 2021 and immediately gets a job 12 hours a week. When he starts studying in August 2021, he is granted SU as a worker under EU law. In September, he stops working without informing us of this, which we do not learn of until December 2021. We therefore discontinue his SU, and the student must pay back SU for the months of September to December as he could not be regarded as a worker during this period.

A Spanish citizen travels to Denmark in January 2023. In February 2023, she starts studying but has no paid work and therefore does not qualify as a worker under EU law with a view to obtaining SU. On 2 April 2023 she starts a job working 12 hours a week and therefore applies for SU from the same month. We approve that she can receive SU as worker under EU law from April. She can then receive SU as long as she studies and, at the same time, works a minimum of 10–12 hours a week.

A Swedish citizen travels to Denmark in March 2021. From the outset she works approximately 30 hours a week. In September 2021 she is admitted to a study programme and applies for SU. At study start she reduces her hours working to 8 hours a week. It is stated in her employment contract that she is not entitled to pay during holiday or remuneration during illness and that a collective agreement does not apply to the employment. After a concrete assessment of all the specific circumstances of her case, her application for SU is rejected because we find that she is not considered a worker under EU law concurrently with her studies.

A Hungarian citizen studies in Denmark and receives SU as he qualifies as a worker under EU law because he works 12 hours a week. In May 2021 he is dismissed without notifying us. During our monitoring of his status as a worker, we learn in November 2021 that he has not had a job in the period from June to October 2021, that he did not register as a job seeker at www.jobnet.dk or report to the local job centre and that he has not met the job centre’s standard job search requirements. However, we also learn that he got a new job from 1 November 2021 working 15 hours a week. His SU for the period from June to October 2021 must therefore be paid back, but he continues to receive SU from 1 November 2021 where he once again fulfils the conditions of being a worker under EU law.

Over the last year a Norwegian citizen has received SU during her studies in Denmark because she has worked concurrently with her studies and could be regarded as a worker under EU law. In February 2021 she is dismissed from her job due to a shortage of tasks. She immediately informs us that she has become involuntarily unemployed and is seeking a new job. We ask her to send us documentation showing that she has become involuntarily unemployed, that she registered as a job seeker at www.jobnet.dk or report to the local job centre immediately hereafter and that she meets the job centre’s standard job search requirements. Subsequently, we assess on an ongoing basis if she may still be regarded as a worker under EU law.

A citizen from Poland receives SU for two years of her studies as she works 15 hours a week and may be regarded as a worker under EU law. In February 2021, she is going to the US for a six months unpaid internship. She will therefore take a leave from her job from February to July 2021 and informs us of this. She can not receive SU in this period because she is not a worker in Denmark. When she returns from the US and resumes her job concurrently with her studies, she can receive SU again.

A French citizen has started a business in 2023 in Denmark and now applies for SU. She submits documentation showing that there are economic activities in her business in the form of invoices and financial statements for the current year. Furthermore, she submits a copy of all contracts she has made with business partners, a business plan, an expected monthly budget, showing her income and expenses for the next 12 months. It appears from the documentation that she expects an annual turnover of 72.000 DKK, corresponding to 6.000 DKK per month.

We conduct a specific assessment of the submitted documentation. We assess that she runs the business on a fairly regular basis in a serious matter and with the purpose of achieving economic profit. We also assess that the extent of the business’ economic activities is of such a size that she can be considered a self-employed person. Therefore, we assess that she has proven to have established herself as a self-employed person in Denmark under EU law. She is thus entitled to receive SU as long as she continues to run her business to the same extent along with her studies.