May 5 Liberation Day: a day off in this anniversary year?

Spring is a time of many holidays every year. After Easter and King's Day, today is Labor Day. Unlike many other European countries, Labor Day is not an official holiday in the Netherlands. However, May 5 is approaching, on which day the Netherlands celebrates Liberation Day. This day has been an official holiday in the Netherlands since 1990. Most companies do not give their employees time off on May 5 but for some employees this year may be different. For civil servants, it is a day off every year. Most schools are also closed.

Mandatory day off?

A public holiday is not necessarily a mandatory day off. Whether you as an employer are obliged to give your employees a (paid) day off on public holidays is not regulated by law. Agreements on working on public holidays are usually included in the applicable collective bargaining agreement or employment contract. The collective bargaining agreement or employment contract then usually includes whether an allowance must be paid if the employee does have to work on a holiday. If nothing about working on a particular holiday is stipulated in the collective bargaining agreement or employment contract, as an employer you are not obliged to give the employee a (paid) day off or to pay an allowance for hours worked.

Liberation Day 2023

Most companies do not give their employees time off on May 5. Many collective bargaining agreements do provide that it is a paid day off once every five years (in anniversary years such as 2020 and 2025). Therefore, in 2025 a large part of the employees will have the day off on May 5. Different regulations may apply per industry or sector. For example, under the collective bargaining agreement for the construction industry, May 5 is a paid day off in anniversary years. However, if shift workers in the construction industry still have to work on this day, they will be given (paid) time off on another day as compensation. The Retail Non Food collective bargaining agreement also stipulates that May 5 is a paid day off in anniversary years.

The hospitality collective bargaining agreement states that employees are not entitled to holidays off but are entitled to additional compensation if they have to work on holidays recognized in the collective bargaining agreement. In this CAO, May 5 is not designated as a public holiday. Employees in the hospitality industry will therefore simply have to work on this day without additional compensation, unless something else has been agreed in the employment contract. Although the hospitality industry is not currently open, this will still remain a day off for employees.

From now on, annual day off?

In October 2020, the Cabinet and the House of Representatives announced that they want as many employees as possible to have time off on Liberation Day from now on. Social Affairs Minister Koolmees will talk with employers and employees about an annual paid day off on May 5. How this will work out in the future, we will have to wait and see for now.

Designating a mandatory vacation day

Apart from the public holidays that we have in the Netherlands, as an employer you may designate certain days on which your employees are required to take a vacation day. The possibility of designating mandatory days off and the number of days off must be included in the applicable collective bargaining agreement or employment contract. On this mandatory day off, you as an employer must continue to pay wages, unless the employees agree not to receive wages. Many companies have included this option in the collective bargaining agreement or employment contract, and designate the day after Ascension Day as a mandatory day off, for example. However, it is important that mandatory days off are announced in time so that employees can take them into account.

In short

The law is silent when it comes to the regulation of public holidays. Whether a public holiday should be designated as a mandatory day off depends on what is included in the applicable collective bargaining agreement or employment contract. The employer is free to designate May 5 as a mandatory day off. However, there is no obligation to do so.