Work is work, but no one canceled holidays and vacations. What days are you as an employer obligated to give your employees a day off? When is school holidays in your area, which means that many workers with children will ask for a vacation? And what are the dates of the construction holidays (bouwvak) in 2019?
Holidays 2019
In the Netherlands, there are several public holidays such as Christmas and King's Day, on which no one is supposedly required to work.
If you work under a collective bargaining agreement, you must give your employees the time off that the collective bargaining agreement provides. They usually coincide with official public holidays.
If there is no collective bargaining agreement for your sector, you are not required to release your employees on these holidays. In this case, you can indicate in your individual labor contract with an employee on which holidays your employee is free and on which not.
Holidays 2019 overview:
| Celebration | Day of the week | date |
| New Year | Tuesday | January 1 2019 |
| Good Friday | Friday | April 19 2019 |
| The first day of Easter | Sunday | April 21 2019 |
| Second day of Easter | Monday | April 22 2019 |
| King's Day | Saturday | April 27 2019 |
| Liberation day | Sunday | 5 May 2019 |
| Ascension Day | Thursday | 30 May 2019 |
| The first day of Trinity | Sunday | 9 2019 June |
| The second day of Trinity | Monday | 10 2019 June |
| First day of Christmas | Wednesday | December 25 2019 |
| Second day of Christmas | Thursday | December 26 2019 |
School holidays 2019
School holidays in the Netherlands are not clearly fixed for the whole country, but in each region they are set anew every year. The dates for the spring and autumn holidays are only recommended, which means that schools may appoint them slightly differently.
School Holidays 2019 Review:
| Каникулы | Region | Period |
| Spring Break | Northern part of the NL | February 16 - February 24, 2019 |
| The middle part of the NL | February 23 - March 3, 2019 | |
| Southern part of the NL | February 23 - March 3, 2019 * | |
| May holidays | Countrywide | April 27 - May 5, 2019 * |
| Summer vacation | Northern part of the NL | 13 July - 25 August 2019 |
| The middle part of the NL | July 20 - September 1, 2019 | |
| Southern part of the NL | 6 July - 18 August 2019 | |
| Autumn vacation | Northern part of the NL | October 19 - October 27, 2019 |
| The middle part of the NL | October 19 - October 27, 2019 | |
| Southern part of the NL | October 12 - October 20, 2019 | |
| Christmas Holidays | December 21, 2019 - January 5, 2020 |
*Be careful
Due to the carnival, the southern region of NL often deviates from the recommended spring break dates - many schools in Brabant and Limburg therefore choose to take the holidays a week later in 2019, that is, from March 3 to 10. In addition, many schools in the Netherlands often offer an extra week off before or after the established May holidays.
Construction holidays (bouwvak) in 2019:
Building holidays for many industries are an important criterion when planning a summer. When building holidays in your area, look at the regional overview for construction industry employers.
| Region | Period |
| Northern part of the NL | 29 July - 15 August 2019 |
| The middle part of the NL | August 5 - August 23, 2019 |
| Southern part of the NL | 22 July - 9 August 2019 |
Holidays and Vacation Rules
How many vacation days should you give workers and how do pre-leave requests work? You can read about it here.
Tip:
Check with your employees about their vacation plans in advance so that you can create a vacation plan that is convenient for everyone.
Do you work on holidays?
Can you call your employee to work on a public holiday? Should you then pay them a higher rate? About this you can read the here.
Publication Date: 20.01.2019
