Summer is approaching and that means not only holiday jitters among employees, but also an important legal concern for you as an employer: as of 1 July 2025, statutory holiday days accrued in 2024 will expire.
ButâĤ this does not just happen. As an employer, you have an active role in this. Read below what you need to do to make expiry of holidays correct and careful.
A quick refresher: what is the legal position again?
According to Section 7:640a of the Dutch Civil Code (introduced on 1 January 2012), the entitlement to statutory holiday days lapses six months after the end of the calendar year in which they were accrued – unless the employee was not reasonably able to take them.
For holidays from 2024, this means: they expire on 1 July 2025.
Do the holidays expire automatically? No, only under these conditions:
As an employer, you must be able to prove that you:
- Informed the employee in writing on time about the expiry of the statutory holidays;
- The employee actually had the opportunity to take holidays;
- Regularly provided an overview of the holiday balance (e.g. via the payslip or an HR system).
Do you fail to comply with this? Then the holidays do not expire, and therefore remain – with possible legal or financial consequences.
Sick employee? Extra attention required!
Holidays do not lapse if an employee was unable to take any holidays due to total disability.
However, if the employee has (partially) recovered or has been able to perform suitable work, the normal lapse does apply. Therefore, make sure that within the reintegration process, attention is also paid to taking statutory holiday days on time.
What can you do as an employer?
- Notify employees in writing of the imminent expiry of their 2024 holiday days;
- Provide insight into the balance – via pay slips or an HR dashboard;
- Encourage timely take-up of holidays – this prevents last-minute requests as well as legal discussions afterwards;
- Record communication properly – in case an employee later claims he did not have the opportunity.
In short: a small action now prevents a lot of hassle later on
With clear communication and clear records, you avoid surprises as an employer. Moreover, you encourage healthy use of holidays – good for both employee and organisation.
So: inform employees in time, provide insight and facilitate peace of mind. That way, everyone can go into the summer with peace of mind!