Am I entitled to holiday pay?

Whether you are entitled to holiday pay depends on your work situation in the previous calendar year. If you’ve worked a full year (in a 5-day week), you are entitled to 20 days’ paid holiday. If, on the other hand, you worked part-time, you accrue your holiday entitlement proportionally. For example, if you worked 4/5, then you will have 16 days’ holiday, provided you worked all year.

H2: Holiday pay for white-collar employees: how does it work?

As a white-collar employee, you receive holiday pay from your employer. Your holiday pay is split into ‘single’ and ‘double’ holiday pay. This means that as a white-collar employee, you will be paid holiday pay when you take your holiday (single holiday pay). On top of that, you get a supplement to cover holiday expenses (double holiday pay) when you take your main holiday.

Calculating holiday pay for white-collar employees. Here’s what you need to know

Exactly how much bonus will go into your account just before the summer? It’s handy to know roughly what to expect. The double holiday pay is calculated based on the gross salary of the month in which the double holiday pay is paid. This includes any fixed contributions for performance and fixed amounts for benefits in kind.

This determines the amount of your double holiday pay

• Current gross salary
• Work regime and number of days worked in the previous calendar year
• 92% of gross pay

Formula: 
Gross salary x 92% x performance in the previous calendar year

For example: 
Kaat earns 2,124 euros gross per month and worked full-time for 9 months last year. Kaat’s double holiday pay is calculated as follows: 2,124 x 92% x 9/12 = 1,465.56 euros.

 

Holiday pay for blue-collar workers: a specific story

As a blue-collar worker, you receive holiday pay from a holiday fund. The most well-known is the National Office for Annual Leave (Rijksdienst voor Jaarlijkse Vakantie or RJV). Unlike white-collar employees, blue-collar workers receive single and double holiday pay together in one lump sum. This means that as a blue-collar worker, you receive nothing when you take leave. The full amount of holiday pay for blue-collar workers goes into your account between 2 May and 30 June of the current year.

Calculating holiday pay for blue-collar workers: this is the situation

The base for the calculation is gross annual salary at 108%. Holiday pay is calculated on this at 15.38%. Are there days you didn’t work in the previous calendar year, but which still count towards the calculation of your holiday pay? Remember to include things like illness, maternity leave, leave of absence or certain forms of temporary unemployment. These are what we call ‘equivalent days’. For those equivalent days, a notional wage is allocated. This is on top of the gross annual salary and therefore counts towards the base for calculating your holiday pay. For your holiday pay, reckon on an amount roughly equivalent to 8 weeks’ pay in full-time employment.

For example: 
Lorenzo had a gross annual salary of €21,240 last year and no equivalent days (so no notional wage). The calculation is as follows:

• Annual wage at 100%: €21,240
• Wage at 108%: €22,939
• Notional wage: 0
• Base for calculation of holiday pay: €22,939
• Gross holiday pay (15.38%): €3,528.02

A solidarity contribution of 1% is deducted from gross holiday pay.

 

There are also proper arrangements for holiday pay for interim work

Absolutely! Even if you work on an interim or temporary basis, you are entitled to holiday pay.

Are you working on an interim basis as a blue-collar worker?

Then holiday pay comes from the National Office for Annual Leave. On top of your salary, the temporary agency pays a contribution for holiday pay to the holiday fund, which then pays you the single and double holiday pay the following year. Tip: make sure the National Office for Annual Leave has your account number.

Are you working on an interim basis as a white-collar employee?

For white-collar employees, the method of payment differs from that for permanent employees. Because the temporary employment agency is your legal employer, the agency will therefore pay the contribution for holiday pay directly, on top of your wages. Think of it as an advance payment of the holiday pay you will be entitled to next year. Tip: do you still want to have a pot of holiday money next year? Then set aside that extra amount, because you won’t get an extra payment in May or June.

 

Calculating holiday pay for interim workers

Calculating holiday pay for blue-collar workers working on an interim basis

For blue-collar workers, the same rules are applied as for permanent employees. So depending on how many days you worked on an interim basis in the previous calendar year, you will have accrued holiday entitlement and thus holiday pay. This means you will also receive holiday pay from the National Office for Annual Holiday Leave before the summer.

Calculating holiday pay for white-collar employees

For white-collar employees, like permanent employees, you will receive an extra 15.38% on top of your gross pay. You’ll receive it directly, with your weekly pay. It’s up to you to decide whether to take advantage of it now or save it for next year.