Almost a third of workers have Liberation Day off; More every year

More and more workers are being given an annual day off on Liberation Day, which falls on May 5, rather than once in five years which has often been the case in the past. Last year, a third of all workers in the Netherlands (34 percent) were given a day off while this number was only 27 percent in 2022.

This was reported by the Minister of Social Affairs, Eddy Van Hijum, in a letter to parliament. This is in response to a request by the lower house of Dutch parliament, the Tweede Kamer, to look into the possibilities regarding the date.

It is up to the decentralized collective labor agreement parties to determine whether May 5 will result in a day off every year, the NSC minister said. Since 1959, there has been a “recommendation” from the Labour Foundation, which includes employers and employees, to provide a day off with pay on May 5 during the anniversary years.

In 2019, the Cabinet at the time called on employers to give their workers the day off every year because the Cabinet felt it is important to celebrate the country’s freedom. The Labour Foundation brought this to the attention of the employers, sectors, and employees, and recently repeated this call.

Liberation Day has been marked as a national holiday since 1990, just as is the case for King’s Day, New Year’s Day, and Christmas. But this does not mean that everyone is off work for that day, Van Hijum wrote.

Not working on the holidays is not something that is determined by law. Agreements regarding this are made in collective labor agreements or made within the company. People in the care, public transport, and safety sectors have to work on some of these days. This also goes for people in the catering industry and the events or tourist sector.

Next Monday is an anniversary year, so many more people will have a day off from work.