All employees are entitled to at least 25 working days of holiday every year. Since Saturdays are considered working days, this normally means the employee is entitled to four weeks and one day of holiday every calendar year.
Holiday
Every employee is entitled to holiday
Every employee is entitled to at least 25 working days of holiday.
Working days are defined as weekdays and Saturdays. Sundays and public holidays are not considered working days.
In the context of holiday, this means that six working days normally make up one week.
If you did not work last year, it also means you did not accumulate any holiday pay. But you are still entitled to holiday.
As an employee, you cannot demand to split your holiday up into individual days, unless this is something you have agreed with your employer.
If you normally would work three days during the week you take holiday, you will be considered as having used one week of holiday, and not three individual days of holiday leave.
Many employees are entitled to a fifth week of holiday due to the collective agreement established in 2000/2001.
This additional week of holiday also means the holiday pay rate increases, 10.2 percent to 12 percent. This was part of the settlement between the parties of the collective agreement and is not part of the Holiday Act.
All employees who turn 60 years old during the holiday year are entitled to an additional week of holiday.
The employee can decide when they want to take this holiday, but they must notify their employer at least two weeks in advance.
The employer must ensure employees use their holiday
The employer has a duty to ensure that the employee uses all of their holiday leave. Failure to do so is against the law, and the employer may be liable for compensation.
Advice for employers
- You must always discuss holiday arrangements with the employee before you decide when holiday is taken.
- You have the final say in when the employees take the main portion of their holiday.
The employee has a right to holiday and a duty to use it
The employee has a right to holiday and a duty to use all of it. This applies even when they switch employers.
You may refuse to go on holiday if the holiday pay you have accumulated with your current and/or previous employer does not compensate for the lack of pay during your holiday leave.
The employer may order you to go on holiday if the workplace entirely or partially suspends operations in connection with holiday, e.g. during the general holiday period.
The employer
- must, well ahead of the holiday period, discuss the timing of the holiday with the employee or the employee’s representative
- has the final say on the matter if the employer and employee cannot agree
The employee
- can normally demand to be informed of the timing of their holiday at least two months in advance
- can demand to take three continuous weeks of holiday during the main holiday period (1 June–30 September)
- can demand to take the remainder of their holiday, seven working days, as a continuous period
Read more about changes in fixed holiday periods in Section 6 (3) of the Holiday Act.
If you, as an employee, get sick during your holiday:
- If you fall ill during your holiday, you may demand that your holiday be deferred from the first day of your illness, including Saturdays.
- You must document your claim with a medical certificate and present your claim to your employer as soon as possible when you return to work.
- In order to be entitled to postpone your holiday, you must be placed on full (100 %) sick leave.
If you, as an employee, become fully unable to work before your holiday:
- You can demand to defer your holiday until later in the year.
- You must document your claim with a medical certificate and present your claim to your employer no later than the last workday before your holiday.
The right to defer holiday applies to statutory holiday pursuant to Section 5 of the Holiday Act, normally 4 weeks and one day of holiday leave, plus an additional week for all employees over 60.
Keep in mind that holiday is essentially time off without pay. The purpose of holiday pay is to compensate for your missed earnings while you are on holiday.
Yes, you can transfer holiday to the following year.
The main rule is that you must use all of your holiday leave by the end of the calendar year. Even so, you can agree with your employer to transfer up to 12 days of holiday to the following year.
It is the employer who decides if it would be OK to transfer this unused leave, see Section 7 (3) of the Holiday Act.
You cannot agree to transfer more holiday than what is permitted by law. This means
- you can’t “save” more than 12 days of holiday leave for next year
- your employer can’t demand that you transfer more than 12 days of holiday leave
Employees have a right, but not a duty, to take their statutory holiday during their parental or care leave period. The leave period is the period during which they receive parental or adoption benefit.
If the employee chooses to take holiday during their parental or care leave period
- the parental or care leave is extended by a period equivalent to the duration of the holiday
- the timing of the holiday leave is entirely up to the employee
When the parental or care leave period is over, the employer will have the final say in the timing of the employee’s holiday.
The employer cannot, however, time the holiday to correspond with the care leave taken by the employee’s partner or another caregiver for the child. The employee may demand that any holiday that happens to correspond with such a care leave period, be deferred.
If all of the holiday is not used by the end of the holiday year, the remainder of the holiday is transferred to the following year.
Employees who are on parental leave until 30 September, may demand to have the main holiday leave period (3 weeks) deferred until the following year.
If the employee has been terminated
The employer cannot demand that the employee take holiday during the notice period. The employee’s consent is required. In other words, the employee may object to taking holiday that has already been scheduled, during the notice period.
The exception is the situation where the notice period is three months or more. The employer may then demand that the employee go on holiday during the notice period within the limits set by the Holiday Act.
If the employee has resigned
In that the employer has the final say in the timing of holiday, the employee cannot demand to take holiday during the notice period. The exception is when there is no time to implement the holiday within the main holiday period (1 June–30 September) or within the holiday year.
You have both a right to holiday and a duty to use your holiday, even if you have just started a new job. It is a condition for demanding holiday from a new employer, that you have not used all of your holiday with your previous employer.
It is a condition for your employer demanding that you go on holiday that you have accumulated holiday pay from last year with your current or previous employer.
You are entitled to the following:
- full holiday (25 working days) by the end of the calendar year if your employment commences no later than 30 September of the holiday year
- three weeks of continuous holiday during the main holiday leave period (1 June–30 September) if your employment commences no later than 15 August of the holiday year
- at least one week of continuous holiday leave if your employment commences after 30 September
Advice for employees
- You cannot freely decide when you go on holiday.
- Have you applied to your employer for a specific time frame for your holiday? Remember that you have the right to be informed of the timing of your holiday at least two months before the leave period you applied for, begins.
- Are you or have you been ill during your holiday? Remember that you must present your claim and a medical certificate to your employer in order to have your holiday deferred.