If you work in the Netherlands, you have the right to take holidays. This means you do not have to work and still receive your wages.
If you want to take a day off or a holiday, you must ask your employer for permission. Your employer usually has to say yes. Your employer can only say no if your holiday causes major problems for the company. In that case, your employer must send you a letter within two weeks that explains why you cannot take time off. Your employer must also give approval for a different period when you can take your holiday.
You continue to build up holiday days (also known as holiday entitlement) while you are on sick leave. If you are on sick leave and you want to go on holiday, you must ask your employer for permission. You will then be paid your wages in full.
In some cases, you are entitled to more than the minimum number of holiday days. Extra holiday entitlement is referred to as additional holiday days. Your contract or CAO contains arrangements for this. In many cases, you also get time off on national holidays in the Netherlands .
If you do not use up all your holiday entitlement within a year, you will no longer be able to take it once a certain amount of time has passed. Holiday days expire six months after the year in which you built them up. For example, the holiday days you built up in 2024 expire on 1 July 2025. The rules where you work might be different, so check your contract or CAO carefully.
If you work, you have the right to take holidays. In many cases, your holiday entitlement is four times the number of hours you work each week. If you work 25 hours a week, your holiday entitlement is 100 hours a year. You can take this in days or individual hours. When you are on holiday you continue to receive your wages. These rules also apply if you are on a posting.
No. You cannot normally do that. You cannot swap your holiday entitlement for extra wages. There is one exception to this rule. If you are leaving employment, for example because you have another job, all of your unused holiday entitlement (including any hours that remain) will be paid out to you.
If you become sick while you are on holiday, you must report sick to your employer immediately. The days you are sick do not count as holiday days and you can take them later. This rule applies to your statutory holiday entitlement.
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