The Case Clarity – by Kirsten Freichmann

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You’re reported sick, or thinking about reporting sick (because otherwise you wouldn’t be browsing my website), but you are thinking what can happen if you are working less. Or when you are already working less (or not working at all).

And then, somewhere between your payslip and your HR system, a thought appears:

👉 Wait… am I still building up holidays?

Because logically, you’d think:
Less work = less holidays… right?

Welcome to the Netherlands. Where logic sometimes takes a scenic route.

Short answer (before we complicate it)

👉 Yes. You still accrue holiday days while you’re sick.

Even if you are:

• Fully off sick
• Partially reintegrating
• Working fewer hours

This is not a “nice employer policy”. This is law. Book 7 to be exact.

The legal rule explained

Under Dutch law (Burgerlijk Wetboek Book 7 – Article 634) the following is mentioned:

👉 Employees continue to accrue statutory holiday days during illness
as if they were fully working.

So even if you:

• Work 0 hours
• Or 20 out of 40

👉 Your statutory leave builds up 100%

Yes…. Every time I explain this, someone blinks twice.

Wait.. what are “statutory holiday days” (and why should you care)?

Not all holiday days are created equal. You have 2 categories: statutory – and extra statutory days.

Statutory days (wettelijke vakantiedagen)

👉 Minimum: 4x your weekly working hours
👉 These ALWAYS accrue during sickness

Extra-statutory days (bovenwettelijke vakantiedagen)

👉 Anything above the legal minimum
👉 Based on your contract or CAO

And here’s where things get a bit complicated (and I am afraid I do not have a generic answer ready to your situation).

These may follow different rules depending on:

• Your contract
• Your CAO
• Company policy

So no… not everything is automatically safe.

“But I’m working less… so what happens when I take a holiday?”

Ah…..Welcome to the real confusion and the question I have often seen on Reddit.

For clarity and important to note: I’m answering this from the perspective of a highly skilled migrant and/or a full-time employment contract.
Not from the angle of zero-hour or flexible contracts you often see in hospitality or care roles, where different rules can apply.

Let’s say:

• You normally work 40 hours
• You’re reintegrating at 20 hours

Now you take a week off.

The question becomes: are you using:

• 20 hours of holiday?
• Or 40 hours?

And the answer is: It depends.

(Yes, I know… LOL.. sorry, couldn’t help myself. Annoying…)

How this works in practice

There are generally two approaches:

1. Based on your original contract (most common)

👉 A “week off” = full weekly hours (e.g. 40 hours)

Even if you’re temporarily working less.

Why? Because your contract hasn’t changed. Only your capacity has.

2. Based on reintegration hours (very less common, but exists even though I don’t see it happen)

👉 A “week off” = your current working hours (e.g. 20 hours).

In practice, some employers align holiday deduction with reintegration hours, but this is not based on law and sits on – IMHO – shaky ground.

It also clashes with Dutch case law, which consistently protects employees during illness and focusses on the key principles of:

• Holiday entitlement should not be reduced due to sickness
• Reintegration should not disadvantage the employee

I would never advise an employer to apply this approach. But if an employer uses this tactic it depends heavily on:

• Employer policy
• Agreements made during reintegration

Where people get into trouble

Not because the law is unclear… But because expectations are.

Typical chaos moments:

• “Wait, why did they deduct 40 hours?”
• “I thought I only used 2 days?”
• “HR said something different last time…”

Translation: nobody aligned beforehand. And yes… this ends up in discussions later. Often when it’s already too late, royally f*cking up the employee – and employer relationship.

One more nuance (because of course there is)

Holiday days during illness are also linked to:

📜 Article 7:640a BW (expiry of statutory leave)

👉 Statutory holiday days expire after 6 months
(unless you reasonably couldn’t take them due to illness)

So:

• Being sick doesn’t mean unlimited stacking
• But it can extend validity in certain situations
• Case law is very specific on the ‘inability’ of taking an holiday, which I can write about, if you leave a comment.

Again: nuance. Always nuance….

Final thought

Dutch law is surprisingly generous here and can be summarised as:

👉 You don’t lose your right to build up holidays just because you’re sick.

But…

How those days are used, counted, and interpreted? That’s where confusion starts..

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Want to avoid a “wait… what?” moment later?

Because this is one of those topics that seems small…
until it suddenly affects your:

• balance
• salary
• or exit situation

If you’re unsure how this applies to you:

👉 Send me a DM or fill in the contact form

Clarity now > frustration later.