Statutory leave and holiday entitlement in the Netherlands

Dutch leave law is generous but fragmented. Holiday sits in one statute and the care-related leave types in another, each with its own notice rules, payment arrangements and test for when an employer may say no. The difficulty is rarely whether a right exists. It is knowing which right is being invoked, who pays, and what happens if the parties disagree. This article sets out the position as at August 2026.

Two statutes, two logics

Holiday entitlement is governed by Book 7 of the Civil Code (Burgerlijk Wetboek, BW). It is part of the wage bargain: days are accrued by working, salary continues while they are taken, and they are the employee's property, capable of being carried over and paid out in cash when the contract ends.

The care-related leave types sit in the Work and Care Act (Wet arbeid en zorg, WAZO). WAZO leave is not accrued and is not the employee's property. It crystallises when a life event occurs: a birth, an adoption, the illness of a family member, an emergency. Some is paid by the employer, some by the Employee Insurance Agency (UWV), some not at all.

Which statute is in play matters for four reasons. Payment: holiday is always at full salary, while WAZO leave may be at 100%, at 70%, or unpaid. Refusal: an employer influences when holiday is taken, but for most WAZO leave the entitlement cannot be refused. Set-off: WAZO leave may not be deducted from statutory holiday (art. 3:4 WAZO; art. 7:635 BW). Expiry: holiday expires on a timetable, whereas WAZO leave lapses if the qualifying window passes.

Holiday entitlement under Book 7 BW

Statutory and non-statutory days: the four times rule

Every employee accrues a statutory minimum of four times the agreed weekly working hours per year (art. 7:634 BW). For someone working five eight-hour days that is 160 hours, or twenty days; for a three-day part-timer, twelve days. Expressed in hours, the rule scales to any working pattern.

Most contracts and collective labour agreements (CAO) grant more. Anything above the minimum is a non-statutory day (bovenwettelijke vakantiedag). The distinction does not affect how days are taken but is decisive for how long they last, and statutory days may not be bought out in cash during employment (art. 7:640 BW) while non-statutory days may.

Expiry: six months, five years, and the exception that matters

Statutory days expire six months after the end of the calendar year in which they accrued (art. 7:640a BW), so days accrued in 2026 lapse on 1 July 2027 unless taken. The purpose is health and safety: employees should rest, not bank leave. Non-statutory days escape that rule and are subject to the ordinary five-year limitation period (art. 7:642 BW). A balance is therefore layered, and unless the contract or CAO says otherwise the days with the shortest remaining life are taken first.

The exception is where most litigation arises. Statutory days do not expire if the employee was not reasonably able to take them (art. 7:640a BW). Long-term sickness is the obvious case, but it is broader: an employee refused leave, or under such workload or staffing pressure that taking it was unrealistic, may resist expiry.

European case law has pushed this further and Dutch courts follow it. In Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften eV v Tetsuji Shimizu (Court of Justice of the European Union, 6 November 2018, case C-684/16, ECLI:EU:C:2018:874), the Court held that paid annual leave does not lapse merely because the employee did not request it: the employer must have specifically and transparently informed the employee, in good time, that it would be lost. An employer that stayed silent bears the consequence.

The lesson runs both ways. Employers should send a written, individual reminder before the expiry date identifying the days at risk, and keep the evidence; a line in a staff handbook is unlikely to suffice. For employees, a request made and refused is worth far more, evidentially, than a balance that simply went untouched.

Holiday during sickness

A sick employee accrues full holiday entitlement, statutory and non-statutory alike, throughout the incapacity (art. 7:639 BW); the former restriction to the final six months of sickness is gone. Days of sickness count as holiday only with the employee's agreement for the particular period, so a blanket contractual clause does not do it (art. 7:636 BW). A written agreement may permit set-off against non-statutory days only, the common CAO compromise. Taking real holiday does benefit a sick employee, since it suspends reintegration obligations; agree it explicitly and, where a reintegration plan is running, seek the company doctor's view first.

The WAZO leave types at a glance

Durations expressed as a multiple of the weekly working hours scale automatically to part-time contracts. UWV benefits are calculated on the daily wage (dagloon) and capped at the statutory maximum, revised twice a year.

Pregnancy and maternity leave

Pregnancy leave begins six weeks before the expected date of delivery and must begin no later than four weeks before (art. 3:1 WAZO). If the baby arrives late, the extra days are added rather than deducted from the maternity leave.

The mandatory element is often misunderstood by employees who feel well and want to return early. Six weeks of maternity leave must be taken immediately after the birth and this is not waivable; an employer permitting an early return would be acting unlawfully. Beyond those six weeks the remainder may be spread over up to thirty weeks if requested within three weeks after the birth. The employer normally applies for the benefit and continues payroll as usual (art. 3:11 WAZO), and three weeks' notice of the intended start is required (art. 3:3 WAZO). Neither leave can be refused.

Birth leave and additional birth leave for partners

The partner has two entitlements, taken in order. Birth leave (art. 4:2 WAZO) cannot be refused and the employee chooses the days. Additional birth leave (art. 4:2a WAZO), available since 2020, requires that the ordinary week has been taken first; four weeks' notice should be given and the employer applies to UWV (art. 4:2b, art. 4:2c WAZO). The employer may not refuse it but may adjust how the weeks are spread where there is a compelling business interest.

Because the additional benefit is 70% and capped, a partner on a higher salary takes a real income reduction. Some CAOs and employers top it up, so employees should check before planning.

Parental leave

The entitlement is per parent and per child, so two parents of twins have four separate entitlements (art. 6:1, art. 6:2 WAZO), and it runs until the child turns eight (art. 6:4 WAZO). Since 2 August 2022 the first nine weeks attract a UWV benefit of 70% of the daily wage, capped (art. 6:3 WAZO). The condition that catches people out is timing: those nine weeks must be taken within the child's first year, and weeks taken later remain parental leave but are unpaid. For an adopted or foster child the reference point is the first year after the child was actually taken into the household, and the paid weeks are available only if the child is under eight at that point (art. 6:3 WAZO).

Notice must be given at least two months before the intended start (art. 6:5 WAZO). The employee proposes how the leave is spread: full weeks, a fixed day each week, or reduced hours over a longer period. The employer may not refuse parental leave but may alter the pattern on compelling business interest grounds, no later than four weeks before it begins.

The 70% figure has a short history worth knowing. The implementing Act of 13 October 2021 (Stb. 2021, 592), which transposed Directive (EU) 2019/1158, set the benefit at 50% of the daily wage. It was raised to 70% by a decree of 26 April 2022 (Stb. 2022, 174) before the Act took effect, so the rate in art. 6:3 WAZO has been 70% from the start on 2 August 2022. It is unchanged for 2026. A wider reform is in preparation but has not been enacted: the government put a draft Verlofwet out to consultation on 29 June 2026, reorganising the statutory leave types into three groups — leave around birth and the care of children, leave to care for relatives, and personal leave — expressly without altering the duration of any leave or the level of any benefit, and aiming for commencement in 2028. Until then the WAZO rules described here apply.

Adoption and foster care leave

An employee adopting a child, or taking a foster child into the household on a lasting basis, is entitled to six weeks' leave (art. 3:2 WAZO) paid by UWV (art. 3:9 WAZO). Both adoptive parents are individually entitled. The statutory maximum is six consecutive weeks within a period of twenty-six weeks, and the entitlement runs from four weeks before the child is actually taken in; on the employee's request the weeks may be spread across that window rather than taken as one block. The same rules apply to foster children (art. 3:2 WAZO). Three weeks' notice is required, with documents evidencing the adoption or placement.

The benefit itself must be applied for no later than two weeks before the leave begins. Where the application is late, entitlement is limited to the year preceding the application, save in special cases (art. 3:11 WAZO).

Short-term and long-term care leave

Short-term care leave (art. 5:1 WAZO) covers necessary care for a sick or dependent child, partner, parent, grandparent, grandchild or sibling, or another person in the employee's social circle where the employee is the obvious carer. The employer pays 70% of salary, with a floor at the statutory minimum wage (art. 5:6 WAZO). It is reported in advance where possible, stating the reason, expected duration and how the care will be arranged (art. 5:3 WAZO).

Long-term care leave (art. 5:9 WAZO) covers care for someone life-threateningly ill, or seriously ill or dependent. It is unpaid and normally taken as reduced hours over a longer stretch, on at least two weeks' notice (art. 5:11 WAZO).

Emergency and short absence leave

Emergency leave (art. 4:1 WAZO) covers unforeseen circumstances requiring immediate attention: a burst pipe, a child to be collected from school, a death in the family, an urgent medical appointment that could not be scheduled outside working hours. It lasts as long as is reasonably necessary, sometimes an hour, sometimes a day. The employee must notify the employer as soon as possible and afterwards explain what happened. It cannot realistically be refused in advance, though the employer may dispute afterwards whether the circumstances qualified. Where an emergency becomes longer-term care, the absence normally converts into short-term care leave.

Unpaid leave

There is no general statutory right to unpaid leave beyond the WAZO types above. A sabbatical, an extended trip home or time out for study is a matter of agreement unless a CAO or the contract creates an entitlement. Where it is granted, record the duration, the treatment of holiday accrual, the position on pension contributions and health insurance and, where relevant, the residence permit. Unpaid leave can affect an employee's immigration position and the basis for future benefits.

Refusal and the compelling business interest test

The phrase “compelling business interest” (zwaarwegend bedrijfs- of dienstbelang) recurs across Dutch leave legislation, but does not do the same work everywhere.

• Cannot be refused at all: pregnancy and maternity leave, birth leave, and emergency leave. The entitlement is absolute.
• Entitlement cannot be refused, but the pattern can be adjusted: parental leave (art. 6:5 WAZO), additional birth leave (art. 4:2a WAZO) and adoption leave. Where a compelling business interest exists the employer may redistribute the leave, after consulting the employee and within the statutory window.
• Can be refused outright on that ground: short-term care leave (art. 5:4 WAZO) and long-term care leave (art. 5:11, art. 5:12 WAZO). Short-term care leave is unusual: it begins when reported, and the employer may afterwards end it where its interest outweighs the employee's. Long-term care leave may be refused in advance.

The test is demanding. It is not enough that the absence is inconvenient or that colleagues must cover. The employer must show concrete, serious disruption, such as that safety cannot be maintained or the operation would have to stop, and weigh it against the employee's interest. Courts examine whether alternatives such as temporary cover were explored, and reasons should be given in writing at the time.

Holiday works differently. Under art. 7:638 BW the employer must enable the employee to take the statutory minimum each year and fixes the dates in accordance with the employee's wishes, departing from them only for compelling reasons. Silence has consequences: the employer has two weeks to respond in writing to a holiday request, and if it does not, the holiday is fixed as the employee asked.

Interaction with the Wet flexibel werken

Leave is not always the right instrument. An employee whose caring responsibilities are structural rather than episodic usually needs a permanent change to the working pattern. The Flexible Working Act (Wet flexibel werken, WFW) allows a request to change the number of working hours, the working times, or the place of work. The employee must have been with the employer for at least twenty-six weeks by the intended commencement date, and must apply in writing at least two months before it, stating the date and what is sought (art. 2 WFW). The employer must decide in writing and notify the employee; if it has not decided one month before the intended commencement date, the hours, the place of work or the working times are adjusted as requested (art. 2 WFW), a trap for employers who let a request sit unanswered. Where the employer refuses, or fixes the arrangement differently, it must give written reasons.

The tests differ. A request to change hours or working times may only be refused on compelling business interest grounds. A request to change the place of work, typically to work from home, sits on a weaker footing: the employer must give it proper consideration and consult the employee where it refuses, but is not held to that standard. The proposal that would have strengthened the position on place of work, the Wet werken waar je wilt, did not become law: the Senate rejected it on 26 September 2023.

Two limits are easily overlooked. A fresh request may in principle be made only a year after the employer granted or refused the last one, and art. 2 WFW does not apply at all to an employer with fewer than ten employees, which must instead make its own arrangement for adjusting working hours. Both limits fall away for the employees most likely to need them: neither the one-year interval nor the small-employer exception applies to a parent of a child under eight, or to an employee caring for someone who is life-threateningly ill, or seriously ill or dependent (art. 2a WFW). In practice a WFW request and a parental leave request are best made together.

Holiday accrual during leave

Holiday continues to build up during WAZO leave. Under art. 7:635 BW, pregnancy and maternity leave, adoption and foster care leave and other statutory leave count as time worked for accrual, and WAZO leave days may not be deducted from statutory holiday (art. 3:4 WAZO). Statutory holiday also keeps accruing throughout parental leave, during the paid weeks and during the unpaid remainder alike. A contract or CAO may provide that non-statutory days do not accrue during leave, but the statutory four times the weekly hours is untouchable.

Termination and the payout of untaken days

When employment ends, untaken holiday must be paid out in cash (art. 7:641 BW). This covers statutory and non-statutory days alike and cannot be excluded. It is calculated on the salary applicable at the end of the contract and includes the holiday allowance (vakantiegeld) attributable to those days, and the employee is entitled to a written statement.

Two points repay attention. The six-month expiry rule applies up to the termination date, so days that had already lapsed are not revived, which is why the “could not reasonably take them” exception is argued so often in exit negotiations. And WAZO leave has no cash value: unused parental leave is simply lost. Where the parties settle by agreement (vaststellingsovereenkomst), the leave balance should be dealt with expressly, since ambiguity produces a second dispute after the first has settled.

The sick employee and reintegration

Sickness is not leave. It is governed by a separate regime: wage continuation during illness, the reintegration duties of both parties under the Gatekeeper Improvement Act (Wet verbetering poortwachter), and the role of the company doctor. The interaction is nevertheless constant. A sick employee accrues full holiday (art. 7:639 BW) and may take it, but the days count as holiday only with agreement for the specific period (art. 7:636 BW). A sick employee may also be entitled to WAZO leave, and the two can run in parallel. These questions are addressed separately.

Practical guidance for employers

• Write a leave policy and keep it current. Name each WAZO leave type, the notice required, the payment and its source, and any top-up above the statutory 70%. Employees consistently underestimate the income effect of the 70% leave types.
• Split statutory and non-statutory days in payroll, recording the accrual year for each so the expiry position can be reconstructed.
• Warn about expiry in writing, individually and in good time. Following Max-Planck, an employer that cannot show it said what would lapse and when may find that nothing lapsed at all.
• Record the label. Book every absence against a named category; reclassifying it months later, once its cost is apparent, rarely survives scrutiny.
• Give reasons contemporaneously, in writing, where leave is refused or a pattern adjusted, including the alternatives considered.
• Apply to UWV promptly. Benefits for maternity, adoption, additional birth leave and paid parental leave are normally applied for by the employer; late applications create avoidable cash-flow problems.
• Check the CAO first, since collective agreements frequently improve on the statutory position.
• Treat requests consistently. Divergent treatment invites discrimination arguments, and part-time employees must not be treated less favourably.