May is traditionally the time for holiday pay in the Netherlands, but the amount that lands in your account in 2025 could surprise many workers. According to payroll processing company ADP, holiday pay for some groups of workers will be lower than last year, while for others it will increase slightly.
Who loses?
The reduction in vacation pay and wages is particularly noticeable among low-income workers. For example:
- With a gross income of €1.000 per month, an employee receives €22 less in net salary and €213 less in holiday pay compared to 2024.
- The level of €1.750 per month means a reduction of €32 in monthly net salary and €4 in holiday pay.
The reduction in vacation pay also affected workers with average and above average incomes:
- With a modal income of €3.588 gross per month, holiday pay decreased by €8.
- For an income 1,5 times higher than the modal (€5.382), the amount decreased by €11.
And who wins?
There are also those who will receive more in 2025:
- For salaries between €2.000 and €2.750, holiday pay has increased. For example, for an income of €2.000, holiday pay has increased by €145, and for €2.750, by €32.
- However, even with this overall increase, many of these workers still lose out on the overall amount due to the decline in regular net wages.
ADP explains such changes by the tax burden and the new indexation of the minimum wage, which affected the calculation of vacation pay.
Vacation 2025
| gross monthly salary | gross vacation pay | net vacation pay | net difference (in euros) compared to 2024 | |
| incomplete employment | € 500 | € 480 | € 480 | € 0 |
| incomplete employment | € 750 | € 720 | € 720 | € 0 |
| incomplete employment | € 1.000 | € 960 | € 693 | - € 213 |
| incomplete employment | € 1.250 | € 1.200 | € 1.131 | - € 3 |
| incomplete employment | € 1.500 | € 1.440 | € 1.357 | - € 4 |
| incomplete employment | € 1.750 | € 1.680 | € 1.583 | - € 4 |
| incomplete employment | € 2.000 | € 1.920 | € 1.276 | +€145 |
| minimum wage (36 hours per week) as of 01.01.2025 | € 2.202 | € 2.080 | € 1.382 | +€236 |
| minimum wage (38 hours per week) as of 01.01.2025 | € 2.324 | € 2.195 | € 1.319 | +€146 |
| minimum wage (40 hours per week) as of 01.01.2025 | € 2.446 | € 2.311 | € 1.389 | +€188 |
| € 2.250 | € 2.160 | € 1.298 | +€27 | |
| € 2.500 | € 2.400 | € 1.442 | +€30 | |
| € 2.750 | € 2.640 | € 1.587 | +€32 | |
| € 3.000 | € 2.880 | € 1.683 | - € 12 | |
| average salary | € 3.588 | € 3.444 | € 1.711 | - € 8 |
| 1,5 x average salary | € 5.382 | € 5.167 | € 2.566 | - € 11 |
| 2 x average salary | € 7.176 | € 6.889 | € 3.030 | € 0 |
| 2,5 x average salary | € 8.970 | € 8.611 | € 3.788 | € 0 |
| 3 x average salary | € 10.764 | € 10.333 | € 5.218 | € 0 |
Source: ADP
Minimum wage on the rise
Minimum wage workers benefited the most. Thanks to the minimum wage increase, vacation pay for this group of workers increased the most.
💡 Council: Compare your 2025 vacation pay with last year's pay. You may notice changes that are worth discussing with your accountant or employer.
Publication date: 21.05.2025/XNUMX/XNUMX
