For employees and employers
Calculate payout of holidays
Leaving your job and still have holiday hours left? Then your employer must pay them out. Enter your outstanding hours, your monthly salary and your hours per week. You immediately see what you get gross, with the sum, and roughly what you keep net.
Payout of holiday hours
| Breakdown | Amount |
|---|
Explanation: calculate payout of holidays
Leaving your job and still have holiday hours left? Then your employer must, in your final settlement, pay out (art. 7:641 Dutch Civil Code). You receive the pay for those hours: your hourly wage times the number of outstanding hours, as a rule with 8% holiday allowance on top. During your employment your employer may statutory not pay out holidays; extra-statutory days may, if you agree in writing (art. 7:640 Dutch Civil Code). You can also take your statutory hours to your new employer: they then give you time off without pay. How many hours you accrue per year, calculate with holidays.
Frequently asked questions
Will my holidays be paid out when I leave?
Yes. If you still have holiday hours left at the end of your contract, your employer must pay them out: statutory and extra-statutory hours, as long as they have not expired or become time-barred. That applies on dismissal, if you resign yourself and if a temporary contract ends (art. 7:641 Dutch Civil Code). Your employer gives you a statement showing how much holiday you still had.
May I have holiday days paid out while I am still employed?
Only extra-statutory days, and only if you and your employer agree in writing. Nobody can force you to. Your statutory days (per year 4 times your hours per week) may not be paid out during employment (art. 7:640 Dutch Civil Code).
How is a paid-out holiday hour calculated?
With your hourly wage: gross monthly salary × 3 ÷ 13 ÷ your hours per week. Fixed allowances, such as a fixed shift allowance, count. With €3,500 per month and 38 hours per week, that is €21.26 per hour. 40 outstanding hours then yield €850.40 gross, plus 8% holiday allowance (€68.03): together €918.43. Your collective agreement may prescribe a different conversion.
Why do I keep less of it net than of my normal salary?
The payout comes on top of your normal salary. Your employer withholds a fixed percentage of wage tax from the 2026 special remuneration table, looked up at your annual salary from last year. With €3,500 a month plus holiday allowance (annual salary €45,360) that is 42.01%; from €45,593 it is 50.47%. Your income tax return settles it definitively.
When do my holidays expire?
Statutory holiday hours expire 6 months after the year in which you accrued them: hours from 2026 on 1 July 2027, unless you were reasonably unable to take them (art. 7:640a Dutch Civil Code). Extra-statutory hours only become time-barred 5 years after the year of accrual (art. 7:642 Dutch Civil Code). Expired or time-barred hours are no longer paid out.
Note: indicative, not advice
This calculation is an indication based on general statutory rules and 2026 rates and does not constitute tax, legal or payroll advice. Assumptions: employee below state pension age, white table, wage tax credit applied (unless you choose No). The wage tax is the percentage from the 2026 special remuneration table at your annual salary from last year; without an entered annual salary we assume 12 × your monthly salary (with fixed allowances) plus 8% holiday allowance. If you also received a 13th month, bonus or overtime last year, or joined this year, your employer may use a different annual salary; then enter your own annual salary. Your collective agreement may prescribe a different conversion to hourly wage or extra pay components (such as structural overtime). Not included: pension contribution on the payout, expired or time-barred hours and agreements in a settlement agreement. No rights can be derived from this result.
Something wrong or missing? Let us know
Sources & values used
| Item | Amount | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Payout at end of employment | pay for all still valid holiday hours (statutory and extra-statutory) | art. 7:641 Dutch Civil Code |
| During employment | statutory hours never; extra-statutory only with a written agreement | art. 7:640 Dutch Civil Code |
| Hourly wage from monthly salary | (monthly salary + fixed allowances) × 3 ÷ 13 ÷ hours per week, rounded to cents | calculation rule |
| Holiday allowance on the payout | 8% (holiday allowance on salary paid by the employer); collective agreement may differ | art. 15 Minimum Wage Act |
| Expiry of statutory hours | 6 months after the year of accrual (2026 → 1 July 2027), unless taking them was reasonably not possible | art. 7:640a Dutch Civil Code |
| Limitation of extra-statutory hours | 5 years after the year of accrual | art. 7:642 Dutch Civil Code |
| Payroll tax | 2026 special remuneration table (white): standard rate + wage tax credit offset percentage at the annual salary, rounded to cents in the employee’s favour | Belastingdienst |
| Annual salary for the table | salary from last year (annual statement), here by default 12 × (monthly salary + fixed allowances) + 8% holiday allowance | assumption |
| Employer contributions | AWf, Aof, Wko, Whk, Zvw 2026 up to max. contribution salary €79,409 | 2026 confirmed |
- Dutch government – How can I take my holidays? (expiry and limitation) (in Dutch)
- wetten.overheid.nl – Dutch Civil Code Book 7, art. 7:640 (no buy-out during employment), 7:640a (expiry), 7:641 (payout at end) and 7:642 (limitation) (in Dutch)
- wetten.overheid.nl – Minimum Wage and Minimum Holiday Allowance Act, art. 15 (holiday allowance at least 8% of salary) (in Dutch)
- Belastingdienst – White special remuneration table Netherlands, Standard (January 2026 edition, PDF, in Dutch) (in Dutch)
- Belastingdienst – Payroll Tax Handbook 2026 (March 2026), section 9.3.6 Special remuneration tables (PDF, in Dutch) (in Dutch)
- Belastingdienst – Payroll tax rates, amounts and percentages from 1 January 2026 (figures annex, PDF, in Dutch) (in Dutch)
- Government Gazette 2025, 42324 – contribution rates, maximum contribution wage and childcare surcharge 2026 (SZW) (in Dutch)
Checked on 7 October 2026.