Rising number of workers in the Netherlands have May 5 off every year

A rising number of people working in the Netherlands get Liberation Day, May 5, as a day off every year. The idea of making it a day off for everybody every year does have support within parliament, but the Dutch government has said that the discussion needs to be between employers and their employees. 

May 5 given as a holiday to more workers - but not everyone

Liberation Day is an official public holiday in the Netherlands, but not everybody gets the day off work. The Netherlands’ approach to public holidays means that it is down to the discretion of employers whether employees are given the day off every year, once every five years, or not at all. 

Figures show that a rising number of employers are giving May 5 as a day off: AD reports that 27 percent of workers had Liberation Day off in 2022; in 2024 this rose to 34 percent. 

Broadly, the idea of making Liberation Day an official day off work every year has support within the government. NSC MP Diederik Boomsa last year brought the matter to the cabinet and received their approval. However, it’s not quite that simple. 

Government urges employers to offer Liberation Day as a holiday 

Eddy van Hijum, the minister for social affairs, wrote a letter to the House of Representatives saying that the cabinet considers it “of great importance” to reflect on the “values of freedom and democracy” on Liberation Day and to “celebrate in an accessible way that we live in freedom in the Netherlands.” However, he concluded that the government has no say in whether or not days are given off work. 

He explained that the responsibility for that lies with employers and organisations representing them, such as VNO-NCW and MKB-Nederland. Van Hijum urged these parties to “bring attention” to the idea of making May 5 an annual national holiday. 

However, there’s no guarantee that employers will be open to the idea - after all, if more employees take more time off work, it’s employers who will shoulder the cost. VNO-NCW and MKB Nederland have so far only said they’re open to the idea of switching Liberation Day with Whit Monday, so that employees retain just one day off work. It’s not quite the answer employees were hoping for.