This contribution focuses on the question of what happens to the vacation days that are left after the year in which they were accrued.
In order to properly answer the previous question, the accrual of vacation days will first be discussed below. The question will then be discussed whether, and if so under what circumstances, accrued but not taken vacation days can be paid out in money. Finally, the forfeiture of the entitlement to unused vacation days will be discussed.
Accrual of holiday days/h2>
An employee is in principle entitled to at least four times the agreed working hours per week in holiday days. For full-time employment, this amounts to at least 20 vacation days per year.
The minimum number of days that an employee is entitled to vacation are called the statutory vacation days. Of course, an employer and employee may agree that an employee has more vacation days. The days that exceed the minimum are called extra-statutory holidays.
Payment of holiday entitlements
During employment
In principle, an employee cannot waive his entitlement to holiday days during the term of his employment. Not even for payment. An exception to this concerns extra-statutory vacation days. Entitlement to these days can be waived in writing in return for compensation.
At the end of the employment contract
If an employee is still entitled to vacation at the end of the employment contract,
Much has been written in the literature about the question of what exactly should be paid out. In this context, the next newsletter will consider the question of how much a day of vacation is worth.
In view of the foregoing, employees can only renounce accrued, but not taken, vacation days during their employment to a limited extent. This means there is a risk that employees will have accrued a whole reservoir of unused vacation days at the end of their employment.
Expiry of vacation days
A measure that limits the build-up of such a reservoir is that unused vacation days will expire at a certain point.
Statutory vacation days/h3>
The entitlement to statutory vacation days expires in principle six months after the last day of the year in which they were accrued. This means that an employee must have used up the statutory vacation days before July 1 each year.
The aim of applying this expiration period is to encourage the employee to take holiday.
However, the expiration period of six months only applies if the employee has been reasonably able to take the days off. If this is not the case, these days will not expire after six months, but only after five years.
Extra-statutory holiday days
The entitlement to extra-statutory holiday days expires after five years.
In principle, deviations from the rules described in this newsletter can only be made to the benefit of the employee.
