In the Netherlands, we have many public holidays, such as Christmas, Easter, King's Day and Ascension Day. But as an employer, do you have to continue paying wages on public holidays or not? And does this differ for permanent employees and flex workers? We would like to tell you about it!
Which days are actually public holidays?
There are a number of generally recognised public holidays. These days are included in the General Holidays Act:
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However, the law does not say anything about giving compulsory time off on these days. So a permanent or temporary employee cannot derive any rights from this. However, conditions are agreed in most collective agreements. What about the collective agreement for temporary workers?
Public holidays in the collective agreement for temporary workers
According to the NBBU collective agreement for temporary workers, the days below are public holidays. This does not apply if they fall on a Saturday or Sunday.
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*A lustrum year is a term used to denote a five-year period. For Liberation Day, this is 2020 - 2025 - 2030 - 2035 etc.
Rules when not working on a public holiday
Whether or not you continue to pay wages during public holidays depends on a number of factors. For example, you look at the type of temporary employment contract, whether your organisation is closed and whether the temporary worker normally works on that day. We list the conditions for you below!
Agency agreement with agency clause
A percentage is reserved for public holidays as standard. The public holiday is then paid from the temporary worker's individual reservation. No more can be paid out than is built up in the reservation.
Agency work employment contract without agency clause
As an organisation, you must continue to pay wages if two conditions are met. We explain them below. Incidentally, these rules may also be applied to agency workers with an agency clause, instead of an individual cash reservation. The temporary employment agency then chooses this itself. This choice is made for the entire calendar year and then applies to all temporary workers.
Condition 1: No work is performed because it is a public holiday
For example, your organisation is closed or only needs minimal staffing. If work continues as normal at your organisation on the public holiday, this condition is not met.
Condition 2: The flexworker would normally have worked
The temporary worker has a fixed scope of work
Are you not working on the public holiday, but the temporary worker has a fixed scope of work with fixed days? Then the temporary worker is entitled to continued payment if the public holiday falls on one of those fixed days.
The temporary worker does not have a fixed scope of work, but has been employed for at least thirteen weeks
If the scope of work is not clearly defined, the ‘seven out of thirteen’ rule applies. Has the temporary worker worked at least seven times in the thirteen weeks before the public holiday? Then the public holiday is considered a normal working day.
The temporary worker has no fixed scope of work and has been employed for less than thirteen weeks
Did the temporary worker start less than thirteen weeks before the public holiday? Then the public holiday is only considered a normal working day if the temporary agency worker has worked more than half the weeks on that day.
How many hours is the temporary worker entitled to if the public holiday is considered a working day?
To determine this, you take the average of all hours paid on the days worked. Suppose you want to determine how many hours should be paid on King's Day:
- This public holiday falls on a Thursday in 2023.
- The temporary worker has worked eight times on a Thursday in the past 13 weeks.
- You then take the average of all hours worked on Thursday in those eight weeks.
- Overtime is excluded unless the temporary worker works structural overtime on Thursdays.
Important
- The temporary worker does not lose the holiday entitlement by scheduling extra on other days. This also does not apply if the temporary agency worker has already achieved the fixed agreed working scope by doing so.
- The temporary agency worker does not lose the right to a public holiday by subsequently taking holidays.
Rules for working on a public holiday
If work continues at your organisation, the temporary worker may work as normal. The law does not stipulate that a public holiday is a compulsory day off. The hirer's remuneration states whether the temporary worker is entitled to a supplement. Is a public holiday allowance included in the remuneration and does your organisation also consider that day a public holiday? Then the temporary worker is also entitled to this public holiday allowance.
Note!
If the employees in direct employment receive a public holiday allowance, the temporary employee will also receive this. It is therefore irrelevant whether the day in question is also a public holiday in the collective agreement for temporary workers.