Dutch employees use over half of annual vacation hours by June, analysis shows
A recent press release from Van Spaendonck reveals that by June 1, Dutch employees had already used nearly 57 percent of their annual vacation hours, according to an analysis of payroll data from 145,000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the Netherlands. The study is based on anonymized monthly payroll data, which covers approximately 1.2 million records.
The data shows that it is common for many workers to plan their vacations well before the summer holidays begin, resulting in early leave requests. Notably, almost 9 percent of employees have taken more than 100 percent of their entitled vacation hours, due to carrying over unused leave from previous years. Conversely, about 8 percent of employees have used less than 10 percent of their annual leave so far, with this figure rising to nearly 9 percent among older workers.
Van Spaendonck's analysis reveals two distinct patterns of vacation-taking among employees. One group is conservative with their leave, having used between 20 and 40 percent of their vacation hours by June. The other group is more generous, with many having already taken between 80 and 100 percent of their annual leave.
The company advises employers to monitor employees who have taken limited leave early in the year to ensure they utilize their remaining vacation time later.
Sector differences are also evident. Employees in the dairy industry have taken the most leave, averaging 69 percent, closely followed by the electronics sector at 68 percent. On the other end, workers in the maritime sector and bakeries have taken the least leave, with averages of 35 and 40 percent, respectively. Particularly striking is that 24 percent of maritime sector employees have used less than 10 percent of their vacation hours by June.
The analysis excludes employees who accumulate vacation monthly, youth workers, and those aged 67 and above. It only includes contracts where full vacation hours were allocated at the start of the year.
