Check all the information about annual leave in hospitality here.
Every employee is entitled to annual leave. Although many take their holiday each year, it may happen that you cannot take all your days within a year. Regardless of the reason, the annual leave cannot be saved or remain valid indefinitely. Annual leave will expire. Therefore, it is important to take your annual leave on time.
Statutory annual leave
Statutory annual leave refers to the days that every employee is legally entitled to. The number amounts to four times the agreed working hours per week. For a full-time contract (five working days per week), this equates to four weeks of holiday (4 x 5 days = 20 days).
You must take the statutory annual leave within six months after the calendar year in which they were accrued, otherwise they will expire. The statutory annual leave you have received must be taken by 1 July of the following year (6 months). If you do not do this, they may expire. Your employer has a duty to inform you. Your employer must inform you precisely and in a timely manner about the expiry of your annual leave. What is considered timely will vary per situation, but you must have the opportunity to take the days. Note: if you are ill and/or have reintegration obligations, you can also take holiday.
Do you still have many days left from last year? Try to request a written extension of the expiry period of the statutory annual leave before 1 July of that year. For example, because your employer repeatedly rejected your holiday requests or because you would like to take the days soon due to a planned holiday. Always request a written response to your request.
Non-statutory annual leave
Non-statutory annual leave refers to the days you are entitled to based on the CLA. In the CLA hospitality, this involves an extra week of holiday (for a full-time contract based on a five-day working week).
Non-statutory annual leave expires five years after the calendar year in which they were accrued. Do you still have non-statutory annual leave? Then you must take these within 5 years. Otherwise, they will expire.
If you do not know exactly how many days you have left, you can inquire with your employer. Request an overview of the statutory and non-statutory annual leave. The number of annual leave days can also often be found on your payslip under the heading 'cumulative'. When you request holiday, you can ask your employer to deduct the annual leave days that will expire first. In principle, the employer should also implement this themselves.