In short: Every employee in the Netherlands is entitled to holiday allowance (vakantiegeld): by law at least 8% of your gross pay, paid once a year, usually in May or June. In agency work this money builds up week by week on your payslip in a “reservering” line — and anyone who doesn’t know it’s theirs doesn’t claim it when they leave. On top of that, from 2026 the percentage follows the client company’s CAO, which can be more than 8. This article tells you where to look, when it’s due, and what to do if it doesn’t arrive.
What vakantiegeld is, and who gets it
Under the Wet minimumloon en minimumvakantiebijslag (the minimum-wage act) every employer must pay at least 8% of gross pay as holiday allowance. It’s not a bonus and not your manager’s goodwill: it’s due to everyone employed in the Netherlands — permanent, fixed-term, agency, full-time or part-time, it makes no difference. It accrues on every hour worked, also during sickness.
Don’t confuse it with vakantiedagen: those are paid days off (by law 4 × your weekly hours per year, i.e. 20 days on a 40-hour week). Vakantiegeld is money, vakantiedagen is time — two separate lines on your payslip.
Where to find it on your payslip
In agency work the agency pays weekly or four-weekly rather than monthly, and it accrues the holiday allowance as a reserve (reservering vakantiegeld / vakantiebijslag). On your payslip that’s a separate line, usually below the deductions: “Reservering vakantiegeld” or “Opgebouwd vakantiegeld”, with the accumulated amount next to it. That is your money that the agency hasn’t paid out yet.
If a listing or contract quotes an “all-in” hourly rate (holiday allowance and days off rolled into the hourly rate), there is no separate reserve — but then the rate must be visibly higher, and the payslip must show in a separate line how much of it is vakantiegeld. All-in pay is only allowed in limited cases; if your payslip has no visible vakantiegeld line, ask*¹.
When is it paid?
Three cases:
- Once a year, at most employers in May or June — you’ll find it on the June payslip, calculated over the past 12 months (typically June–May).
- Monthly or weekly, together with regular pay — the employment contract has to say so. Some agencies do this; then there’s no reserve on the payslip because it has already been paid.
- When you leave: when the employment ends, the accrued holiday allowance (and the value of unused days off) is paid with the final settlement, typically within six weeks of your last working week. This is where most money gets lost: whoever switches agencies and doesn’t check the last payslip never finds out the reserve wasn’t paid out.
In the Netherlands holiday allowance is taxed at a higher rate (bijzonder tarief), so the net is less than you’d expect from 8% — that’s not an error, it’s how one-off payments are taxed. It evens out in your annual tax return.
What changed for agency workers in 2026
Until the end of 2025 the agency-work CAO set a fixed 8.33%. From 1 January 2026 the rule is: the holiday-allowance percentage follows the client company’s CAO — just like days off and sick pay (see our article on the phase system). The legal floor stays at 8%; many sector CAOs give more. Also new from 2026: holiday allowance must be calculated over allowances and overtime too, which used to be excluded. Those already employed in the first half of 2026 temporarily keep the 8.33% if their package doesn’t otherwise increase in value*².
In practice: ask the agency in writing which CAO your vakantiegeld is calculated under, and what percentage. If the answer is “8.33” and they don’t know which CAO — that’s a warning sign.
What to do now
- Check your current payslip for the “reservering vakantiegeld” line. If there’s no reserve, no monthly payment and no all-in marking — ask in writing.
- Write down the accrued amount at the end of every month. When you leave, that’s the number you compare with the final payslip.
- If you leave or switch agencies, check the final settlement after six weeks. If the holiday allowance is missing, request it in writing; if there’s no reply, FNV Flex or the Juridisch Loket help for free — a wage claim can be enforced for five years*³.
Related listings: Current listings on jobSCAN →
The 💶 line in a listing’s “In short” box shows the holiday-allowance percentage where the advertiser stated it.
* Notes — where no exact or citable figure exists:
*¹ This article has not checked from a source the conditions for all-in pay (when it’s allowed, at what working hours); the requirement of a visible separate line follows from the payslip-transparency rule.
*² The transitional rule is described on the basis of Flexhub’s April 2026 article; we have not checked the exact transitional text of the CAO.
*³ The five-year limitation period is a general rule of the Dutch Civil Code; it is not separately cited among this article’s sources.
Sources: Rijksoverheid — Wet minimumloon en minimumvakantiebijslag: vakantiegeld (2026) · Flexhub — Vakantiegeld 2026: wat verandert er (en wat betekent dit voor uitzendkrachten?) (2026-04-13) · Flexnieuws — Nieuwe cao, nieuwe regels: reserveringspercentages 2026 uitgelegd (2025-12-08) · MKB Servicedesk — Alles over vakantiegeld 2026 (2026) · ABU — CAO voor Uitzendkrachten 2026–2028 (2026-01)
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