What do you do with all the accrued vacation days?

After all the health measures as well as restrictions to prevent further spread of the coronavirus, this past year was not an obvious time to take time off. After all, we were just sitting at home anyway. And even though we are well on our way back, we are not yet taking our days off en masse. Because of ambiguity or, as in healthcare, because of huge crowds. As an employer, what can you do now with all the accumulated vacation days? Carry them over to next year, let them lapse, pay them off, spread them out? Not taking the days off not only affects the health of your employees but also the financial health of your organization.

Mandatory time off?

To get right to the point: as an employer, you simply will not and cannot "force" your employees to take time off. An employee has a minimum number of statutory vacation days each year, which amounts to four times the weekly working hours. The employer is obliged to make it possible to take the vacation days, but vice versa the employee is not obliged to take them. However, taking vacation days does affect the financial health and that of the employees. And when everything soon returns to normal, the organization should be back in full swing and employees cannot be missed either. That is why it is important to pay attention to this and to discuss it with each other for everyone's benefit.

Busy times in the organization

In some cases, you as an employer can refuse days off. For the relationship with and health of your employee, you obviously only do this if there really is no other way, for example because the rosters do not fill up. As an employer, you can discuss this with your employee. Make customized arrangements, taking the employee's wishes into account as much as possible, while allowing the organization to run itself.

Too many or too few hours

On the contrary, is there less work due to restrictive government measures, for example? Even then, as an employer, you cannot force the employee to take vacation time. However, you can have an open discussion; chances are that the employees are (partly) willing to take leave. For overtime, depending on how it is defined in the contract and the collective bargaining agreement, the employee has the choice of having the hours paid in time or money. Moreover, these hours are days in excess of the statutory entitlement; they can be paid out at a later date during employment.

The importance of vacation

It is just as important for employees to take vacation time. Discuss this with each other and also indicate the importance of the employee himself in this. Come to a solution together that works well for both parties. If necessary, also indicate that there is a chance that not every application will be approved, because not everyone can go on vacation at the same time.

Want to know more?

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