All About Employee Leave & PTO in the Netherlands
Learn what you need to know about leave requirements in the Netherlands and how Justworks EOR can help you streamline hiring in the Netherlands.
How an EOR Can Help with Employee Leave & PTO
Different countries have different leave requirements and norms around vacation time. When hiring in the Netherlands, Justworks EOR can help you understand the cultural nuances so your leave policies comply with federal requirements and match employees’ expectations.
Save time, money, and effort by minimizing the risks of hiring in an unfamiliar talent market like the Netherlands. We’ll help you hire more quickly and manage HR tasks like running payroll, filing taxes, accessing benefits, staying on top of compliance, and more.
Employee Leave & PTO Expectations in the Netherlands
Employees in the Netherlands are entitled to annual paid vacation time, paid holidays, sick leave, maternity and paternity leave, and a few other miscellaneous types of leave.
Vacation Leave
Employees who work five days a week in the Netherlands are entitled to 20 days of paid vacation time after a year of employment. Most employers offer five additional days on top of the minimum requirement for more flexibility.
Personal Leave
Although not regulated by Dutch law, it’s common for employers to allow employees to take short stints of personal special leave for life situations like a wedding, marriage, or moving. Employers should stipulate this in the employment agreement.
Sick Leave
Sick employees are entitled to sick pay of 70% of their salary paid by the employer for up to 2 years. However, most employers cover 100% of an employee’s salary while they are on sick leave. Employers must record sick leave to the Occupational Health and Safety Service report when the employee recovers. If an employee is on sick leave for over 42 days, the employer must notify the UWV (Employment Insurance Agency) per the Gatekeeper Improvement Law.
Emergency Leave
Emergency leave is only intended for unexpected circumstances like the death of a family member, or suddenly needing to care for a critically ill family member. This type of leave, usually a short period of time, is given without prior notice and employers must accommodate these requests within reason.
Care Leave
Short-term care leave is granted at twice the employee’s weekly working hours during a consecutive period of twelve months with a continued payment of wages. Long-term unpaid care leave can be granted for six times the employee’s weekly working hours of a period of 12 months. Long-term care requests need at least two weeks of approval from the employer.
Maternity & Paternity Leave
New mothers can receive 16 weeks of leave and receive full compensation of their regular wages from the Employee Insurance Agency. Employees must take this leave at least 4-6 weeks before birth. After six weeks, new mothers can split up their maternity leave and return to the office.
Parental Leave
All parents are entitled to 26 weeks of parental leave and receive 70% of their salary for nine weeks of the leave from the government. Parental leave should be taken before the child turns eight.
Adoption Leave
Parents adopting a child are entitled to six weeks of paid leave. This leave can be taken up to four weeks before adoption and up to 26 weeks after adoption. Employees are entitled to 100% of their daily wages paid by the social security system.
Public Holidays in the Netherlands
The Netherlands has 11 national holidays however employers are not required to give these days off or provide extra pay if employees are required to work these days.
Public holidays in the Netherlands:
New Year's Day - January 1
Good Friday - Friday before Easter
Easter Monday - Monday after Easter
King’s Day - April 27
Liberation Day - May 5
Ascension Day - 40 days after Easter
Whit Sunday - 50 days after Easter
Whit Monday - Day after Whit Sunday
Christmas Day - December 25
Boxing Day - December 26
Ready to Hire Confidently in the Netherlands?
Justworks EOR makes building your global team seamless by offering local expertise to help you understand the nuances of the talent market in the Netherlands. Save yourself the time and hassle of international hiring today.
