How to best organise the (summer) holidays?

Annual leave is the right of employees to not work whilst remaining on full pay. The entitlement to annual leave accrues in the calendar year that precedes the year in which the employee takes up his leave. If he/she has worked a full year during that preceding calendar year, then your employee is entitled to 4 weeks’ holiday in the following year. If he/she worked only part of that year, then those 4 weeks’ holiday are awarded only in the same proportion as he/she spent time working.

An employee cannot unilaterally exercise the right to leave. In all cases, the employer’s agreement is required to establish:

- the length of time which he/she wants to take up leave;

- the exact start and end date when your employee wants to take up leave.

RWT days are days off under the RWT (Reduced Working Time) regulations (arbeidsduurvermindering or ADV in Dutch) in compensation of the amount of overtime worked. For instance, if your employee works 40 hours a week, in exchange he/she can take 12 RWT days to reach an average of 38 hours on an annual basis. When your employee takes an RWT day, this means he/she does not need to work that day (paid or unpaid).  

In some companies and sectors, RWT days are collectively established. This means that a collective bargaining agreement or the employee handbook specify on which days employees must take these RWT days. The company or the sector then determines whether or not they to lock in theses days during the holiday period or otherwise. 

However, in a lot of cases employees are free to RWT days. Employees can then decide, in joint consultation with their employer, when they take their RWT days. In the employee handbook, the employer can not only determine the application procedure but also certain terms and arrangements for taking up such RWT days. For instance, as an employer, you could set out that no RWT days may be taken during summer holidays. 

Summer is also the time of year people are often seen to request time credit and parental leave. But can your employees just ask for anything at any time? As an employer, how do you organise your business to maintain operational activities during this time?  

First and foremost, workers need to enter their applications on time for employers to get organised and make arrangements in a timely manner. As an employer, you have the right to refuse or delay  certain applications.

This is the suspension of the employee’s obligation to work and of the employer’s obligation to provide work and pay wages for work carried out. The employee can request this but he cannot exact it. Moreover, opting for unpaid leave is not without consequences. The year after the year during which unpaid leave is taken does not engender holiday entitlements. The year-end bonus can also be affected by this.