Rising number of Dutch workers get paid day off on Liberation Day
By Simone Jacobs
While the majority of workers only get Liberation Day off every five years, more and more residents in the Netherlands have May 5 as a paid day off every year.
Liberation Day a paid day off for 13 percent of Dutch workers
If you’ve lived in the Netherlands for at least a year, you’ll know that Liberation Day on May 5 is a national holiday, but that this doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll have the day free. In 2025, the day was a public holiday and will only be a free day for everyone again in 2030. Good Friday is another example of a holiday when employers decide whether their employees will work.
Based on figures from the Netherlands Employers’ Association (AWVN), 13 percent of collective labour agreements in the Netherlands had May 5 as a paid day off in 2025, reports Trouw. While this may seem like a low number, it is increasing every year - up from 8 percent in 2022, and expected to rise again this year.
Dutch unions push for May 5 to be paid leave day
In negotiations of collective labour agreements, unions often push for Liberation Day as a day off. “It is incredibly important that everyone can celebrate freedom and democracy on May 5,” said FNV vice-chair Jacquie van Stigt.
“We would like to see Liberation Day established by law as an annual day off. Then it will no longer depend on negotiations.” While the government called on the Labour Foundation in 2019 to recommend that the holiday be made a day off, this is the most the cabinet can do. “We do not have a ban on working during public holidays. That also applies to Christmas, for example,” explained a spokesperson for the Ministry of Social Affairs.
Despite this, Van Stigt believes the day should still be made a public holiday by the government. “Of course, certain sectors need to keep working, such as healthcare. But then you have to treat that day just like Christmas, when employees receive more pay,” she says. “It is also about the status you give Liberation Day. If you legally establish it as a public holiday, you convey how important it is that we can celebrate that freedom.”
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Editor for the Netherlands at IamExpat Media. Simone studied Genetics and Zoology at the University of Pretoria in South Africa before moving to the Netherlands, where she has been working as a writer and editor since 2022. One thing she loves more than creating content is consuming it, mainly by reading books by the dozen. Other than being a book dragon, she is also a nature lover and enjoys hiking and animal training.Read more