Dutch Public Holidays & Time Off 2026

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What are the Dutch public holidays in 2026?

The Dutch public holidays in 2026 are New Year’s Day (1 January), Good Friday (3 April), Easter Sunday and Easter Monday (5 and 6 April), King’s Day (27 April), Liberation Day (5 May), Ascension Day (14 May), Whit Sunday and Whit Monday (24 and 25 May) and Christmas Day and Boxing Day (25 and 26 December). That is the official list of eleven published by Rijksoverheid (checked 24 October 2026). Rijksoverheid also states that no law gives employees a right to a day off on these days: your employment contract or cao decides.

Here they are with their dates and a short note on what they mean in practice.

Nieuwjaarsdag — 1 January 2026 (Thursday)

New Year’s Day. Because it falls on a Thursday in 2026, taking Friday 2 January as a vacation day gives you four days off in a row (if you have the holiday off).

Goede Vrijdag — 3 April 2026 (Friday)

Good Friday. Rijksoverheid lists Good Friday among the official public holidays. The General Time Limits Act (Algemene termijnenwet) does not name it in its list of generally recognised holidays, but treats it the same way for legal deadlines. As with every Dutch public holiday, there is no legal right to the day off. Check your employment contract or cao, because practice varies by company and sector.

Eerste Paasdag — 5 April 2026 (Sunday)

Easter Sunday. Falls on a Sunday.

Tweede Paasdag — 6 April 2026 (Monday)

Easter Monday. An official public holiday; whether you are off depends on your contract or cao.

Koningsdag — 27 April 2026 (Monday)

King’s Day, the King’s birthday celebration. If you have not yet experienced Koningsdag, read the full guide before you go. Rijksoverheid says it is an official public holiday but not everyone is off: at most companies employees are off with pay, and civil servants are off, but check your contract or cao.

Koningsdag normally falls on 27 April (King Willem-Alexander’s birthday), but when that falls on a Sunday, it is celebrated on Saturday 26 April. In 2026, 27 April is a Monday, so if you have it off you get a long weekend.

Bevrijdingsdag — 5 May 2026 (Tuesday)

Liberation Day, celebrating the liberation of the Netherlands in 1945. Bevrijdingsdag is an official public holiday, but Rijksoverheid states that not everyone is off: as with every Dutch public holiday, there is no statutory right to the day, and your contract or cao decides. Schools are almost always closed. Check your contract or ask HR.

Hemelvaartsdag — 14 May 2026 (Thursday)

Ascension Day, 39 days after Easter Sunday. A Christian holiday celebrating Jesus ascending to heaven. Because it always falls on a Thursday, taking Friday 15 May off gives you four days off in a row. More on this below.

Eerste Pinksterdag — 24 May 2026 (Sunday)

Whit Sunday (Pentecost). Falls on a Sunday.

Tweede Pinksterdag — 25 May 2026 (Monday)

Whit Monday. An official public holiday. In 2026 it comes eleven days after Hemelvaart (Thursday 14 May). If you have both days off, Whit Monday gives a three-day weekend, and Hemelvaart a four-day one if you also take Friday 15 May.

Eerste Kerstdag — 25 December 2026 (Friday)

First Christmas Day. Falls on a Friday in 2026, so with the weekend it gives a long Christmas weekend if you have it off.

Tweede Kerstdag — 26 December 2026 (Saturday)

Second Christmas Day. Falls on a Saturday in 2026.

How Vacation Days Work in the Netherlands

The Legal Minimum

Dutch law (Article 7:634 of the Burgerlijk Wetboek) sets the minimum vacation entitlement at four times the agreed weekly working hours per year. For someone working five days a week, that is 20 days. For someone working four days a week, that is 16 days.

That is a minimum: your cao or employment contract can give you more days, so check what yours says. When you are negotiating your salary, vacation days can be part of the conversation.

Wettelijke vs Bovenwettelijke Days

This distinction matters a lot for what happens to your unused days:

Wettelijke vakantiedagen are the legal minimum (20 days on a full-time 5-day week). These expire six months after the end of the calendar year in which you built them up, so days accrued in 2026 expire on 1 July 2027, unless your cao or a written agreement sets a longer term or you could not reasonably take them (for example because you were too ill). Your employer must give you the opportunity to take your statutory days each year.

Bovenwettelijke vakantiedagen are anything above the legal minimum. They lapse five years after the end of the calendar year in which you built them up, and other rules can apply to them under your cao or contract.

When you leave a job, your employer must pay out any unused vacation days and give you a statement of the vacation you still had. Your vacation balance is not one of the items the law requires on your loonstrook (pay slip), so ask your employer where to find it.

Part-Time Calculations

If you work part-time, your statutory entitlement scales with your hours.

The formula is: (number of days worked per week × 4) = annual vacation entitlement (or, in hours: weekly hours × 4)

The law counts in hours: 4 times your agreed weekly working hours. That matters when your working days have different lengths. If you work Thursday and Friday as 8-hour days and Wednesday as a 4-hour day (20 hours a week), your statutory minimum is 80 hours a year.

Because there is no legal right to a day off on a public holiday, there is also no legal rule giving part-timers a different day off when a holiday falls on a day they do not work. Your cao or contract decides; it is worth checking, especially if you work a compressed week.

Vakantiegeld: The Holiday Allowance

Vakantiegeld (holiday allowance, legally vakantiebijslag) is at least 8% of your gross annual salary, on top of that salary. Most employees receive it in May or June.

On a gross salary of EUR 3,500 per month:

• Annual gross: EUR 42,000
• Vakantiegeld: 8% × EUR 42,000 = EUR 3,360 gross

Vakantiegeld is taxed: your employer withholds wage tax on it using the table for special payments (bijzondere beloningen), so the net amount depends on your income.

A few practical notes:

When it is paid: By law, the allowance built up until 31 May is paid in June, unless your cao or a written agreement sets another moment; it must be paid at least once a year. Most employees receive it in May or June. Your payslip shows how much vakantiegeld you get (loonstrook guide).

What it is for: There is no restriction on what you do with it.

If you start or leave mid-year: You receive vakantiegeld over the period you actually worked. If you leave, your employer pays it with your last salary.

Some employers spread it: A cao or written agreement can set a different payment moment, for example a part with each monthly salary, as long as it is paid at least once a year. Vakantiegeld paid out monthly counts as part of your monthly salary for wage tax. Check your contract to know which arrangement applies to you.

Vakantiegeld is separate from your vacation days. Receiving it does not mean you have taken any time off; it is an additional payment on top of your paid leave. If you earn more than 3 times the minimum wage, your employer can agree with you in writing on a lower allowance or none.

Brugdagen: The Dutch Art of the Four-Day Weekend

A brugdag (literally “bridge day”, plural brugdagen) is a working day that sits between a public holiday and the weekend, which you take off to bridge the gap into a long weekend. Because Hemelvaartsdag always falls on a Thursday, the Friday after it (in 2026: 15 May) is the classic brugdag candidate.

The key 2026 brugdag opportunities:

Nieuwjaarsdag (Thursday 1 January): Take Friday 2 January off → four days off from 1 to 4 January

Hemelvaartsdag (Thursday 14 May): Take Friday 15 May off → four days off from 14 to 17 May

Bevrijdingsdag (Tuesday 5 May, if you have it off): Take Monday 4 May off → four days off from Saturday 2 to Tuesday 5 May

Christmas (Friday 25 December): With the weekend, Christmas gives three days off in a row (Friday 25 to Sunday 27 December) if you have it off.

How brugdagen work in practice: Some employers give brugdagen off without you using a vacation day; at others you use a vacation day. Ask HR or your manager at the start of the year: “Zijn de brugdagen dit jaar inclusief?” (Are the bridge days included this year?)

Planning your vacation days around the public holidays gets you more consecutive days off for the same number of vacation days.

Bouwvak: The Construction Holiday

Bouwvak is not a public holiday.

Bouwvak is the collective summer holiday in the construction industry. Rijksoverheid names a collective holiday, such as in construction, as one of the reasons an employer may object to vacation at another time. If you are planning renovation work in summer, ask your contractor when they are closed.

For office workers, Bouwvak is not a holiday. School summer holidays are also spread over three regions; see Rijksoverheid’s school holiday overview for the dates.

Comparing with Other Countries

Here is how the statutory minimums compare (official government and legal sources, checked 30 October 2026).

On top of vacation days, Dutch employees are entitled to at least 8% vakantiegeld, unless they earn more than 3 times the minimum wage and agree otherwise in writing.

The US: the Fair Labor Standards Act does not require payment for time not worked, such as vacations or holidays; these are matters of agreement between employer and employee.

The UK: an employer can count bank holidays towards the 28 days. In the Netherlands, too, there is no legal right to a day off on a public holiday; whether your vacation days come on top of the public holidays depends on your contract or cao.

Germany: the Bundesurlaubsgesetz minimum of 24 working days is counted over a six-day week, which works out at the same 20 days on a 5-day week as the Dutch minimum.

Beyond public holidays and vacation days, there are other forms of leave, such as maternity and paternity leave. The maternity and paternity leave guide for the Netherlands covers how parental leave works alongside your regular vacation days and what happens to vakantiegeld accrual during leave periods.

How to Plan Your Time Off Strategically

Here is a practical framework for making the most of your 2026 vacation days.

Step 1: Map the public holidays first

Start with the eleven public holidays and mark which ones create natural long weekend opportunities with a brugdag:

• 1 Jan (Thu): Take 2 Jan → 4 days off ✓
• 14 May (Thu): Take 15 May → 4 days off ✓
• 25 Dec (Fri): Long weekend with Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 December ✓

Step 2: Book the summer block early

Your employer must in principle agree to your vacation request and can only object for serious business reasons (zwaarwegende bedrijfsbelangen) or because of a collective holiday; it must object in writing within 2 weeks. Requesting your summer weeks early gives your employer and team time to plan.

Step 3: Use the Kerstvakantie week efficiently

The week between Christmas and New Year (Monday 28 December 2026 to Friday 1 January 2027) costs you four vacation days (Monday 28 to Thursday 31 December), because 1 January 2027 is Nieuwjaarsdag. If you have Christmas and New Year’s Day off, that gives ten days off in a row, from Friday 25 December to Sunday 3 January, for four vacation days.

Step 4: Track your balance quarterly

Check your vacation balance with your employer regularly, so you know which statutory days expire on 1 July of the next year.

Step 5: Understand your company’s brugdag policy

Ask at the start of the year: which brugdagen does the company give off, and which require a vacation day? If your employer publishes a calendar of office closures, plan around it.

Public Holidays and Dutch Culture: What You Are Actually Celebrating

A brief context for some of the holidays:

Pasen (Easter), Hemelvaartsdag, Pinksteren and Kerst come from the Christian calendar, as do Goede Vrijdag and Tweede Paasdag.

Koningsdag celebrates the King’s birthday. The Dutch holidays and traditions guide covers the cultural context.

Bevrijdingsdag celebrates the liberation of the Netherlands in 1945. The evening before, 4 May, is the Nationale Herdenking (Dodenherdenking), when the victims of the Second World War and of later wars and peacekeeping operations are remembered; at 20:00 the whole country is silent for two minutes. 4 May is not a public holiday.

Sinterklaas is not a public holiday. If you are in the Netherlands with children, or want to know why colleagues write poems and wrap presents in early December, read the Sinterklaas guide for expats.

Practical Tips for Expats Specifically

A few points to check:

Check which cao applies to you. Vacation days above the statutory minimum come from your cao or contract. Check the terms when you negotiate your employment contract.

Vakantiegeld is taxed. Wage tax is withheld on it using the table for special payments, so the amount you receive is lower than the gross 8%.

The 30% ruling and time off are separate. The 30% ruling (the Dutch tax facility for highly skilled migrants) affects your tax; your statutory vacation entitlement is based on your working hours. Check your contract for how your vakantiegeld is calculated.

You keep building up vacation during sick leave. If you are (partly) ill, your build-up of vacation hours continues; for extra (bovenwettelijke) hours, your contract or cao can set other rules. If you fall ill during your vacation, report sick: those days count as sick days, not vacation days.

Unused days must be paid out when you leave. If your contract ends with unused vacation days remaining, your employer must pay them out. Keep a record of your balance throughout the year.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many public holidays are there in the Netherlands in 2026?

There are 11 official public holidays in 2026, counting both days of Easter, Whitsun and Christmas, according to Rijksoverheid. No Dutch law gives employees a right to a day off on those days; your employment contract or cao decides. For Bevrijdingsdag (Liberation Day, 5 May), Rijksoverheid explicitly says that not everyone is off and that you should check with your employer, contract or cao.

How many vacation days are Dutch employees entitled to by law?

The legal minimum in the Netherlands is 4 times your agreed weekly working hours per year: 20 days on a 5-day working week. Your cao or employment contract can give you more. Part-time workers receive a proportional amount based on their contracted hours.

What is vakantiegeld and when is it paid?

Vakantiegeld (holiday allowance, legally vakantiebijslag) is at least 8% of your gross annual salary, on top of your salary. Your employer pays it at least once a year; most employees receive it in May or June. On a gross salary of EUR 4,000 per month, 8% comes to EUR 3,840 gross a year. If you earn more than 3 times the minimum wage, your employer can agree with you in writing on a lower amount or none. It is separate from your vacation days: extra money, not a substitute for paid leave.

What is a brugdag in the Netherlands?

A brugdag (bridge day) is a working day between a public holiday and the weekend that you take off to create a long weekend. Hemelvaart (Ascension Day) always falls on a Thursday, so the Friday after it is the classic example. Some employers give brugdagen off; at others you use a vacation day. Ask your employer or check your cao.

What happens to unused vacation days in the Netherlands?

Wettelijke vakantiedagen (the statutory minimum) expire 6 months after the end of the calendar year in which you built them up: days from 2026 expire on 1 July 2027, unless your cao or a written agreement sets a longer term or you could not reasonably take them. Bovenwettelijke vakantiedagen (extra days above the minimum) lapse 5 years after the end of the calendar year in which you built them up. Statutory days cannot be paid out while you are employed; unused days are paid out when your contract ends.

Do I get vacation days during probation in the Netherlands?

Yes. You build up vacation days over every period in which you are entitled to salary, so also during the proeftijd (probation period). As with any leave, you request it from your employer, who must in principle agree.

The Bottom Line

The Dutch system combines a statutory minimum of 4 times your weekly hours in vacation, 11 official public holidays (with no legal right to the day off) and at least 8% vakantiegeld.

The things to get right as an expat:

1. Know your vacation day total and whether your brugdagen are included or cost extra days
2. Request your summer vacation early
3. Track your wettelijke days and use them before 1 July of the following year
4. Expect your May or June salary to look unusually large — that is vakantiegeld, and it is taxed
5. Check which public holidays and brugdagen your employer gives off

For a broader picture of working life here, see the Dutch work culture guide.

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