Everyone needs a holiday sometimes. That is why everyone in employment gets a minimum number of days off per year, as laid down in the law. In addition, employers often give extra days, as a condition of employment - for example because that is agreed in the collective labour agreement. Together, these are your statutory and extra-statutory holidays. The most important differences? You can find them below.
The difference between legal and non-statutory
Every year you accrue vacation days with your employer. Everyone is entitled to at least 4 times the working hours per week. So if you work 40 hours a week, you get 160 hours of vacation annually. These are 20 days, and therefore 4 weeks. If you work 32 hours, you also get 4 weeks of vacation: you are legally entitled to 128 hours. The 4 weeks that everyone in employment is entitled to are called statutory holidays.
But many people get more vacation days per year: the extra-statutory days. How many of these 'extra' days you get differs per industry and employer. Your collective labor agreement or employment contract states whether you have holidays in excess of the statutory entitlement, and how many there are.
When do my holidays expire?
All days expire if you do not use them. When that happens depends on the type of leave. Statutory vacation days expire 6 months after the end of the year in which you accrued them. So take your days from 2023 before July 1, 2024. Otherwise you will lose them. This can only happen if you have had the opportunity to take them and if your employer has informed you that they will expire. Your employer is obliged to give you the opportunity to use your statutory vacation days. Please note: there may be different agreements about this in your collective labor agreement or company regulations.
The statute of limitations works differently for holiday days in excess of the statutory entitlement: they only expire 5 years after the year in which you accrued them. So the days from 2019 that you have not taken will be lost after December 31, 2024. Other agreements may also be made about this in your employment contract or collective labor agreement.
Have holidays paid out
Do you still have days you can't finish? Statutory holidays will then expire. You can sometimes have holidays that exceed the statutory minimum, but agreements must be made about this in your collective labor agreement or employment contract. You cannot therefore enforce payment from your employer.
Taking holidays
When you book a holiday, you cannot choose which days you use for it. Your employer must always first debit the days that expire first. So pay attention to this if you still have many old non-statutory holidays.
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More information
Questions about your vacation days? Please contact us. Our Service Center can be reached every working day from 8.30:17.00 AM to XNUMX:XNUMX PM sc@unie.nl en 0345 851 963.
