At present, Dutch employees who are parents or guardians of a child up to the age of 8 are entitled to parental leave. The duration of this leave is 26 times the number of hours worked per week. The leave is unpaid, unless the employment contract or CLA states otherwise. In principle, the employee can decide for himself how the leave is distributed and taken. The employer can only refuse a request for leave if he has a compelling business or service-related interest in doing so. In that case, another distribution of the leave hours can be agreed upon. This is possible up to four weeks prior to the start of the leave.
This white paper explains what this means and AAme’s advisors list all the changes of this new law.
