Holiday Allowance & Paid Holidays in the Netherlands

Depending on the sector's collective agreement, public holidays in the Netherlands can be working days, as there's no statutory obligation for employers to entitle their employees to a day off. However, many companies in the Netherlands offer more than the minimum number of vacation days for employees to take days off from work. Apart from several paid holidays, employees in the Netherlands are also entitled to a holiday allowance – not a common mandatory benefit in Europe. In this blog, we will explain the most important aspects of the Dutch holiday allowance and paid holidays in the Netherlands.Understanding Holiday Allowance in the NetherlandsEmployees in the Netherlands, both full-time and part-time, are entitled to the holiday allowance. Holiday allowance – "Vakantiegeld" in Dutch – is a mandatory payment by employers in the Netherlands, an additional amount of money on top of the employee's gross salary. As of January 2020, the standard rate is a minimum of 8% of an employee's la...