Laid off? What to do in the first 30 days

The first few days decide most of the money, and most mistakes happen because people sign while still in shock. Nothing about a layoff requires you to agree to anything on the day you are told.

• The termination letter: the date notice was given, the notice period, your last working day, and whether you are released from work (garden leave) during notice.
• The reason: “restructuring”, “redundancy” or “position eliminated” matters later — for benefits, for work permits and for how you explain it.
• Final pay: salary to the last day, unused holiday or holiday pay, overtime, and any bonus or commission you have already earned.
• Pension and insurance: when employer pension contributions stop, and when any health, life or income insurance ends.
• Settlement or severance offers: what you receive, what you give up (often the right to claim anything further), and any confidentiality or non-compete terms. Get it read before you sign.
• Equipment, access and references: when to return the laptop and phone, and a written reference or confirmation of employment dates.

Register as a job seeker on Jobnet on your first day of unemployment — dagpenge cannot be paid for days before you register. For many people that first day comes after the notice period, not the day they are told; if you are released from work during notice, ask your a-kasse which date counts. Then apply for dagpenge with your a-kasse. You need at least one year of membership and enough reported income over the past three years (see the facts box). Within two weeks of registering you must have a complete, approved CV on Jobnet, and no later than two weeks into your unemployment the a-kasse invites you to a CV interview. You must also log your job search.

Dagpenge are capped at DKK 22,041 a month before tax in 2026 for full-time insured members, and at 90% of your previous income, so most salaried people will see a real drop. Before signing anything that describes the exit as your own resignation, ask your a-kasse: leaving a job without a valid reason counts as self-caused unemployment and means a three-week quarantine on dagpenge.

If you are a salaried employee (funktionær), the Salaried Employees Act sets the minimum notice your employer must give, rising from one month to six months with seniority, and gives severance after 12 years’ service. If you are not a salaried employee, or your contract or collective agreement says something different, ask your union to check your notice and any settlement. Holiday you have earned but not used must be settled when you leave; you order it through borger.dk’s “Se og bestil feriepenge”, but you cannot receive holiday pay and dagpenge for the same days, so tell your a-kasse before taking holiday.

In most countries an employer-sponsored visa is tied to the job, so losing the job starts a clock: some countries give a grace period to find a new sponsor or leave, some cancel the permit, and some offer a job-seeking permit you must apply for within days. Read your permit letter today, then the rules for your country in our work visa guides by country. Denmark is a worked example of how precise the deadlines are.

In Denmark, for schemes tied to a specific job, such as the Pay Limit Scheme, SIRI states that the permit will be revoked when the job ends, and that you must always inform SIRI if you lose or change jobs. If you lost the job through no fault of your own — for example, cut-backs — holders of permits under the Pay Limit Scheme, the Positive List for People with a Higher Education, the Researcher Scheme, or the Fast-track Scheme’s pay limit, researcher or educational track can get a job-seeking permit of up to six months.

Apply for it no later than two days after your employment ends, which means after your notice period expires. You may not work while you hold a job-seeking permit and must be able to support yourself without receiving social benefits under the Active Social Policy Act. SIRI notes that a permit granted for less than four years normally matches your contract and automatically includes a job-seeking period of up to six months — check your permit letter and ask SIRI whether you still need to apply. Permits under the Fast-track Scheme’s supplementary pay limit track, and schemes not listed above, do not qualify.

When you find a new job, you need a new residence and work permit. SIRI’s job change rule lets you start the new job before the permit is granted, but only if you submit the application no later than the day you start. SIRI decides every case; read its pages for your exact scheme before your notice runs out, and put the two-day deadline in your calendar today. Which work permit fits explains the schemes.

Everyone you speak to in the next month — recruiters, former colleagues, interviewers — will ask what happened. Decide the answer once: the business reason, the scale if it helps (“one of 40 roles”), and what you are looking for next. No adjectives about the company, no hint of grievance, no apology. “Laid off” or “made redundant” is accurate and neutral; do not say “fired” if it was not about your performance.

If the search goes on for months, the same logic applies to the gap on your CV — explaining a career gap has the wording.

Work out your runway in the first week: savings plus any severance and benefits, divided by what you actually spend a month. That number sets your search strategy. With six months of runway you can be selective; with six weeks, take a contract or interim role early rather than holding out, and keep searching from there. Cut or pause subscriptions and big commitments now, not in month three.

The mental load is often heavier than the practical one: a layoff hits identity, routine and confidence at once, and the search brings silence and rejection that say nothing about your worth. Give the week a shape: fixed search hours in the morning, a daily walk or training session, and at least two conversations with people outside your home. Treat each application as a single attempt, not a verdict. If low mood or anxiety starts to stop you functioning, talk to your doctor early — that is part of the plan, not a detour from it.

Senior exits are negotiated more than they are announced. Before you sign, ask about outplacement support, the wording of the internal and external announcement, an agreed reference, and timing that lets you leave with your reputation intact. Have a lawyer or your union read the agreement, especially non-compete and confidentiality clauses.

At this level, weeks three and four should lean on conversations and search firms more than job boards: former bosses, board members, investors, peers at competitors. Interim or advisory work keeps you visible and current as a bridge. If you consider a step down, decide it deliberately once you know your runway, not in a first-month panic.

A short tenure is easy to explain when the reason was structural: “I joined in 2025; the company cut its newest team when funding fell through.” Interviewers at this level care far more about what you can do than why the job ended.

Lean on evidence: projects, results from the job you just lost, even from studies or internships. Graduate programmes, trainee schemes and entry-level roles are worth another look — and with less experience to show, a tailored CV and letter matter more, not less. The internship resume example shows how to make limited experience read strongly.