Leave policy in the Netherlands

When hiring employees overseas, it’s essential to understand each country’s standard leave policy. In the Netherlands, for example, employees are entitled to at least 20 vacation days each year.

Understanding local leave policies is an essential part of staying compliant. 

Keep reading to learn more about the leave policy in the Netherlands.

Vacation leave policy in the Netherlands

When you hire workers in the Netherlands, they are entitled to statutory leave totaling at least 4 times the number of hours they work in a week. For full-time employees working 40 hours per week, this equals 160 hours of statutory leave, or 20 days, per year. Under a CBA, with an additional 5 days, employees are entitled to 25 paid vacation days in total.

You may need to offer additional leave to employees if your business sector is covered by a generally binding Collective Labor Agreement (CAO) with a Dutch trade union, even if you’re a foreign company. Many employers also offer additional, non-statutory leave to their employees.

Employees accrue statutory leave. Employees can take time off before their leave is fully accrued, and employers can only reject a leave request if it will cause significant business issues. Statutory leave can be carried forward for 6 months.

Public holidays are not counted as statutory leave in the Netherlands, meaning companies are not required to provide employees with time off on public holidays.

Public holidays

Because public holidays are not part of statutory leave, it’s up to the CAO or the employment contract to determine which public holidays count as days off. This applies nationwide, regardless of location. 

If, for example, the contract or CAO states Christmas Day as a day off and it falls on a weekday (or planned working day), you must pay your employees’ wages for that day. However, Dutch law does not automatically require those days to be paid unless specified in the CAO or contract.

Since the law does not designate public holidays as paid time off, it is possible to treat them as regular workdays with standard pay. However, it’s common for CAOs and employment contracts to stipulate extra pay or time off in lieu when an employee works on a public holiday that has been agreed as a day off.

Here is the full list of public holidays in the Netherlands:

Public holiday	Date
New Year’s Day	January 1st
Good Friday	April, exact day varies
Easter Sunday and Easter Monday	April, exact days vary
King’s Day	April 27th
Liberation Day (once every 5 years)	May 5th
Ascension Day	May, exact day varies
Whit Sunday and Whit Monday	May or June, exact days vary
Christmas Day and Boxing Day	December 25th and 26th

Sick leave

If one of your employees in the Netherlands calls in sick, you must continue to pay their wages. Employees are not required to disclose their illness, and employers are not permitted to ask for details. Statutory Minimum is 26 weeks.

By law, companies must offer paid sick leave to permanent contract employees, fixed-term contract employees, and on-call employees, and you must pay at least 70% of the employee’s normal wages for a maximum of 2 years. 

Here are the details:

• First year of illness: You must pay 70% of the normal wages, and if this falls under the minimum wage, you must round it up to meet the minimum wage amount.
• Second year of illness: You must pay 70% of the normal wages, and this can fall under the minimum wage.
• Other wage components: In addition to wages, you may have to pay at least 70% of other wage components.

The laws lay out the bare minimum, but you may also have to comply with additional stipulations from your CAO. For example, some CAOs require employers to pay out 100% of wages during the first year of sickness.

Exceptions include employees who are sick due to organ donation, pregnancy, or giving birth. In these circumstances, you must always pay 100% of the normal wages, but you can apply for sickness benefits from the Employee Insurance Agency (UWV) and receive reimbursement for the full amount.

Pregnancy and maternity leave in the Netherlands

For pregnant employees, employers must allow paid leave during work hours for pregnancy-related check-ups. This is stipulated under the Working Hours Act and should not be deducted from their holiday hours.

The minimum amount of pregnancy leave and maternity leave in the Netherlands is 16 weeks. This includes 6 weeks of pregnancy leave before birth and 10 weeks of maternity leave after birth. The first 6 weeks of maternity must start immediately after childbirth, and employees may take the remaining 4 weeks over the following 30 weeks.

During pregnancy and maternity leave, employers must pay 100% of an employee’s normal wages, which can be reimbursed by the UWV.

Paternity leave

Under the Work and Care Act (WAZO), fathers or partners (including same-sex partners) in the Netherlands are entitled to a total of 6 weeks of leave following the birth of a child, consisting of two parts:

Leave Type	Duration	Timing	Payment
Geboorteverlof (Mandatory Paid Leave)	1 week	Must be taken within the first 4 weeks after the child’s birth.	100% of salary, paid by the employer.
Aanvullend Geboorteverlof (Additional Unpaid Leave)	5 weeks	Must be taken within the first 6 months after the child’s birth.	70% of salary, paid as a benefit by the Employee Insurance Agency (UWV).

The statutory minimum mandate is 1 week within the first four weeks, and the statutory maximum mandate is 6 weeks.

Parental leave policy in the Netherlands

Parents are entitled to take parental leave at any point during the first eight years of their child’s life, either continuously or in separate periods.

Paid Parental Leave:

• 9 Weeks: Parents receive 70% of their salary, paid by the Employee Insurance Agency (UWV). This is the statutory minimum mandate for paid leave.
• Remaining 17 Weeks: For the rest of the parental leave, parents are entitled to a benefit of 70% of their salary, also paid by the UWV.
• The statutory maximum mandate for total paid leave is 26 weeks.

Unpaid Parental Leave:

• There is no maximum limit to the amount of unpaid parental leave that can be taken.

Other types of leave in the Netherlands

In the Netherlands, these other common types of leave are also offered to employees. 

Compassionate leave

• Short-term: A maximum of 72 hours can be taken within any 12 months.
• Long-term: Up to 12 weeks of leave is available within any 12 months.

Study leave

Employees in the Netherlands are eligible for study leave for further education, with two options:

1. Paid Study Leave: Up to 12 months in 12 years, compensated at 70% of salary by the employer.

2. Unpaid Study Leave: Up to 24 months in 12 years, with no salary compensation.

Employees must have at least one year of service, be enrolled full-time in a course at a recognized educational institution, and the study must be relevant to their current or future career.

Explore Payoneer Workforce Management in the Netherlands

Employer rights and entitlements are complex and vary significantly from country to country, making it challenging for foreign employers to navigate leave policies in the Netherlands.

Payoneer Workforce Management helps employers by offering support with onboarding, payroll, taxes, benefit and more, without setting up a local entity.

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FAQs

1) How much leave do you get in the Netherlands?

Paid vacation days in the Netherlands are calculated based on weekly hours. Everyone is entitled to 4 times the hours they work in a week, so the average full-time employee working 40 hours per week receives a minimum of 160 hours or 20 days of paid leave, with an additional 5 days under the CBA, making it a total of 25 days.

2) What happens with unused vacation days in the Netherlands?

In the Netherlands, if an employee doesn’t use their statutory paid leave, it will expire 6 months into the following year. For example, time off earned in 2025 would expire on July 1st, 2026. Employees can’t trade their unused vacation days for cash.

3) How long is maternity leave in the Netherlands?

Pregnant employees get 16 weeks of pregnancy leave under the WAZO Act. This is paid at 100% of the normal wages and can be reimbursed by the UWV. Maternity leave may be extended due to late births or medical complications.