New holiday year - what you need to know

The new holiday year starts on 1 September 2023, so now is a good time to be aware of the following terms and conditions:

• What you need to know about untaken holiday during the holding period
• What holiday should be taken first
• Sickness during holidays.

Concurrent holiday

Concurrent holiday means that the employee accrues and takes holiday at the same time.

The holiday year runs from 1 September to 31 August, and the employee accrues 2.08 holiday days per month, which can already be used the following month. In total, the employee will have accrued 25 paid holiday days. These terms apply to employees regardless of whether they are employed full-time or part-time.

Overall, the above means that holiday days can be taken during the holiday year and in the subsequent four months until 31 December 2024. The period of 16 months is also called the holiday period.

Transferring holiday

According to the Holiday Act, the employee is entitled to take 20 days of holiday before the end of the holiday year - i.e. within the 12 months.

Before the end of the holding period (31 December), the employee should have taken 20 days of holiday. If the employee has been unable to take the last five holiday days (also called the fifth holiday week), these can be carried over to the next holiday year.

However, please take into account the existence of any other agreement that may regulate the terms and conditions for taking holidays.

The fifth holiday week will be automatically paid out by 31 March. If the employee wants to transfer the fifth holiday week to a new holiday period, he/she must have a written agreement in place by 31 December at the latest. The transferred fifth holiday week must be taken before taking any new accrued holiday.

If the employee has not been prevented from taking holiday but still has not taken all 20 holiday days during the holiday period, these days will be settled by the holiday fund and the employee will not be compensated.

Extra holiday entitlement

The Holiday Act does not cover extra holiday entitlement, which is why it is handled differently to holidays. The employee may be entitled to extra holiday entitlement according to a collective agreement or an individual agreement, which is why the processing of extra holiday entitlement will appear in the collective agreement, in a personnel policy or the individual agreement with the employee.

Illness at the time of holiday

If an employee falls ill before the start of his/ her holiday, he/she will not be obliged to take the holiday. It is important that the employee substantiate that the illness is a hindrance. If the employee recovers within the planned holiday period, they must report fit for duty with information on whether they intend to take the rest of their holiday or start work.

If an employee becomes ill during his/her holiday, they could be entitled to compensatory leave. However, the following conditions must be met:

• The duration of the illness exceeds five sick days (also called the waiting period - the days do not have to be continuous, but can be split into different holidays)
• The employee must report his/her illness to the employer on the first day of illness
• The employee must pay for the medical certificate documenting the illness.

If less than 25 holiday days have been accrued, the employee is entitled to compensatory holiday after a proportionately smaller number of days.

The calculation basis for the days for which the employee receives compensatory holiday is the number of accrued holiday days multiplied by 1/5.

If, due to special circumstances, the employee is prohibited from taking accrued paid holiday before the end of the holiday period, up to four weeks of annual paid holiday is transferred to the subsequent holiday period.

In the event of holiday hindrances, the holiday is automatically transferred to the following year.

Notice of summer holiday

If you need to plan a summer holiday, you must provide three months’ notice of the summer holiday you intend to take, in accordance with the Holiday Act's rules for main holidays. The main holiday (15 days) is placed in the period from 1 May to 30 September. If the employee has accrued less than 15 days' holiday, the entire accrued holiday is the main holiday.

According to §3, para. 2 of the Holiday Act, the employer and employee can in a current, specific situation agree to enter into an individual agreement on a shorter notice period than the above-mentioned notice. The condition is that the main holiday is continuous and a minimum of 10 days.

Do you help?

If you as an employer need advice about holidays or other employee/HR-related matters, you are welcome to contact us.