This answer was updated november 23, 2017:
Hi,
if he owns the company he is regarded as self-employed in the Unemployment benefit system, no matter how he get paid.
Self-employed and owners who have their company as their main occupation can only get unemployment benefits if the company goes bankruptcy/is closed.
In order to be entitled to unemployment benefit in case, the company must close the person must have been member of an A-kasse for at least 1 year, and he must have had an income of at least DKK 223,428 (2017) in total during the last 3 years.
A maximum of DKK 18,619 can be counted each month.
However, only periods/months of self-employment conducted in significant extent, can be counted to meet the income requirement.
A month with self-employment in significant extent is regarded/equated to compliance with the income ceiling (DKK 18,619) for one month.
If the A-kasse considers that your work in the company has not been significant, work as a self-employed person can not count towards the employment/income requirement.
It is not possible with the current rules, to have both income from salaried job and income from self-employed business count in the income requirement. This is because members who have self-employed activities to a significant extent can not count more than 37 hours per week to employment requirement.
However new rules for self-employed will come into effect from october 2018. You can read about the coming changes for self-employed in our article here (in danish).
How much can he get in unemployment benefits?
You can receive 90% of your previous income in unemployment benefits, but a maximum of DKK 18,403 per person. month (2017) for a full-time insured member.
The amount of the unemployment benefits is calculated as an average of the 2 years with the highest tax profit before interest and other financial items within the last 5 completed income years prior to the date of unemployment. A-indkomst paid by a company to the owner who has a decisive influence is included in the statement.
Which A-kasse should he choose to become member of?
He should choose one of the a-kasser targeted towards self-employed. Look here: http://a-kasser.dk/selvstændig/
Best,
www.a-kasser.dk
Anders