Hello everyone! It’s Wednesday again!

Except reading messages from you guys, the favorite thing for me to do is reading the news.

After feeling young again by chatting with my colleagues who are younger than me about the hot topic Story of Yanxi Palace, I also found interesting news:

The ending of Story of Yanxi Palace has made a lot of fans upset, some of them were even too sad to work!

They asked for a leave from their boss at midnight, you cannot believe the result: their boss agreed!

The process is like this:

So how to ask for a leave in the Netherlands?

There are several kinds of holidays in the Netherlands:

☉Vocation (vakantiedagen)

☉sick leave (ziekteverlof)

☉maternity leave (zwangerschapsverlof)

☉paternity leave (vaderschapsverlof, kraamverlof, partnerverlof)

☉parental leave (ouderschapsverlof)

☉care leave (zorgverlof)

I have mentioned holidays related notes in the overview of the work contract last week; All the types of holidays listed above should be included in the work contract, therefore we will go through these different types of holidays in detail today.

1 Vocation

Students have winter/summer breaks, employees have annual leave. Before I have talked about the regular holidays of full-time employees that work in the Netherlands, you can check it out by pressing this link ：荷兰式工作时间：周一，我在度假，你呢？

According to law, employees who work in the Netherlands have the right to have at least 20 days paid leave a year; the specific formula to measure the period of time is work hour per week times 4. Most companies will provide their employees 24 to 32 days of annual leave, this will be clearly stated in the work contract.

In addition, it is possible to extend annual leave. For example, if you have not taken all your annual leave this year, you can extend your annual leave by adding the hours you have not taken this year to the next year. It is worth mentioning that Dutch public holidays are separated from annual leave, which means the annual break does not include public holidays.

Attention: Most employers allow employees to at most take two to three weeks of vacation continuously; if a longer period of time is needed by the employee, he/she must communicate with his/her boss in advance.

2 Sick Leave

First of all, employees must tell their boss that they want sick leave by phone calls/messages/e-mails. If you become sick when you are having your annual leave, you can ask your boss to count these days as paid sick leave rather than annual leave. You will learn more details by reading the following passages.

The process of asking for a sick leave

-Most work contracts will illustrate what employees should do if they need sick leave.

If you feel sick, the first thing you need to do is to tell your boss/the personal director administers about it.

-It is better to ask for sick leave at 8-9 AM because your colleagues are able to adjust the work schedule according to your absence.

-The most important thing is that your boss’s consent of your request. Your boss may ask about your condition, you have the right not to give a lot of details; however if he/she does not believe that you are telling the truth, then he/she can ask a doctor of the company to check on you.

-If it is a serious sickness and a long rest is needed, it is necessary to tell the company in advance for the sake of rescheduling.

-Remember to tell your boss if you have recovered.

What is the obligation of both employee and employer in this period of time?

-Both sides should try their best to ensure that the employee will readjust to his/her work when he/she gets back to work. 

-If the employee needs a long period of time to recover, he/she should report his/her condition to the company’s doctor, then the doctor will investigate and make a judgment about whether the employee has lost the ability to work. The employer sets up a plan with the employee together to deal with the situation and regularly meets with the company’s doctor. Under some circumstances, the employee could do parts of the work (part-time), which should be done according to the doctor’s suggestions. Employers should try their best to adjust the employee’s work content properly. If there is not any proper work for the employee to do, the employee can apply for the employer’s aid and help for finding a new work opportunity.

-According to the Dutch employment law, it is forbidden for employers to end the employment relationship when the employee is being sick (opzegverbod tijdens ziekte).

Will asking for a sick leave lead to a deduction of wages?

According to Dutch law, employees have the right to acquire at least 70% of their salary during the first 104 weeks of illness. However, most employers agree to pay employees 100% of their salary in the first year and 70% of their salary in the second year. Employees who intentionally cause their sickness or do not coordinate the reschedule of the company will not be paid at all. 

3 Maternity Leave

It’s for the female working in the Netherlands: if you plan to conceive, it is better to inquire about maternity leave issues from the employer.

If you are pregnant during your tenure of office, you have right to have at least 16 weeks of paid maternity leave. You can start your leave 4-6 weeks before childbirth. Maternity allowance (zwangerschapsuitkering) will be provided during these 16 weeks to ensure your financial security. After your maternity leave, you can consult with your employer about whether to return to work or choosing to work part-time.

How to ask for a maternity leave

Expectant mothers need to ask for maternity leave 3 weeks in advance. However, it is normal to ask for a maternity leave at 12 or 13 weeks of pregnancy. Then employers will have enough time to organize work matters. Same duties will be exercised, it is forbidden for employers to end the employment relationship when the employee is having a maternity leave.

4 paternity leave and parental leave

This is for guys: The Dutch labor laws state that expectant fathers have the right to ask for paternity leave and parental leave in order to spend more time with their families.

Male compatriots have the rights to take 2-days-long paid paternity leave (kraamverlof) and 3-days-long no paid parental leave (ouderschapsverlof). Parents who have children who are under 8 years old have the right to ask for parental leave, however, they will be normally unpaid. The maximum number of hours parents can ask for parental leave = work hours per week times 26. 

5 Care leave

According to law, employers have the right to ask for (short-term) leave in order to take care of their relatives and friends.

This kind of leave is provided for employees in case they get someone to take care of. Employees have to provide employers the letter from a doctor or the appointment letter and the confirmation letter from a hospital. Annually, employees can ask for (work hour per week times 2) long short-term care leave. Employers have to pay employees at least 70% of their original wages for these hours. It is possible to ask for (work hour per week times 6) long long-term care leave when their relatives or friends are having serious health problems, however, in this case, employers do not have to pay for the extra hours. 

That’s the whole content of this week!

Thanks for reading!

Maybe the girl who was too sad to work will ask HT for help in order to find a job in the Netherlands after awarding that great regulation of Dutch holidays.

Hope this article has helped in making the regulations of Dutch holidays clearer for you!

See you next Wednesday!

Source：I AM EXPAT