Emergency leave (Calamiteitenverlof)
16.02.2021What if your employee has a circumstance in connection with which he cannot go to work? Should you give him paid emergency leave? How much?
Natalya Desyatnikova, a lawyer at Nalog.nl, a specialist in labor law, will answer the 5 most frequent questions about emergency leave today.
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What is emergency leave?
Article 4: 1 of the Labor and Social Security Act (Wet arbeid en zorg,) regulates the issue of emergency leave and other short-term leave.
An employee is entitled to such leave if due to unforeseen circumstances or other especially personal reasons, the employee is unable to return to work.
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When can such leave be granted?
The law contains a number of conditions for the granting of such leave. An employee is entitled to vacation in the following cases:
- Unforeseen circumstances requiring immediate interruption of employment. For example, if an employee has a house fire.
- Special (exceptional) personal circumstances (Article 4: 1.2 of the Law). For example, the birth of a partner or wife of an employee, the death of a housemate or close relative, an urgent visit to the doctor.
- Obligation to law or government that falls within working hours. For example, a mandatory appearance in court or voting.
Vacation during the coronavirus.
You must give an employee a leave of absence if, for example, he has to look after his children or other infected family members.
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Is this vacation paid?
Yes, you, as an employer, are obligated to provide such leave with pay. The employee should inform you about the vacation as early as possible and indicate the appropriate reason. If this is currently not possible, then he will have to report it as soon as he can. You can then ask the employee to prove whether the reason for the leave was justified.
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How long can a vacation last?
According to the Law, the duration of such leave is “a short period that can be calculated correctly”. You can determine this period by agreement with your employee. The duration of the vacation depends entirely on the situation of the employee. In the law, there are no specific instructions on this issue, but as an employer you are obliged to approve this type of leave (if, of course, it meets the criteria described above).
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What is the difference between emergency leave and special leave?
Wedding leave or relocation leave does not fall under the category of emergency leave - it is a special leave. However, the Law does not provide an unambiguous legal definition of what is meant by special leave as opposed to emergency leave.
It must be remembered that if your company is subject to a collective bargaining agreement, then the rules governing such types of vacations as special can be determined there. If your company does not have a collective agreement, then you can make your own decision regarding such vacations and reflect them in the internal documents of the company or in the employment agreement with the employee.
