In some jurisdictions, holiday pay is an allowance which an employee earns through work in the calendar year prior to the year of the holiday. It is usually a percentage supplement to the salary that has been paid the year before the holiday pay is to be paid.
Holiday pay is a legal term in Norway (''feriepenger''), Sweden (''semesterlön''), Denmark (''feriepenge''), Belgium and the Netherlands (''vakantiegeld'', ''pécule de vacances''), Germany and Austria (''Urlaubsgeld'').
Norwegian law
In Norway, the right to holiday pay is established in the Holiday Act of 1988 (''ferieloven'').
An employee who has not been working the previous year has the right of
vacation
A vacation (American English) or holiday (British English) is either a leave of absence from a regular job or an instance of leisure travel away from home. People often take a vacation during specific holiday observances or for specific fes ...
, but does not have the right of holiday pay. The holiday year (''ferieåret'') is defined as the year when the employee leaves for holiday. The holiday pay earned in the previous year is paid in connection with the holiday leave the following year, no later than one week before the holiday starts.
The right of holiday pay is linked to the concept of an employee, which means that one performs work in the service of another.
Freelancer
''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance ...
s and
self-employed persons are therefore not entitled to holiday pay under the Norwegian Holiday Act.
The holiday pay amounts to 10.2% of the holiday pay basis. Employees who turn 59 years are entitled to 12.5%.
Employees covered by a
collective agreement
A collective agreement, collective labour agreement (CLA) or collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is a written contract negotiated through collective bargaining for employees by one or more trade unions with the management of a company (or with an ...
that provides a fifth holiday week receive 12% (with employees over the age of 60 years receiving 14.3%).
See also
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Paid time off
Paid time off, planned time off, or personal time off (PTO), is a policy in some employee handbooks that provides a bank of hours in which the employer pools sick days, vacation days, and personal days that allows employees to use as the need or ...
*
List of minimum annual leave by country
References
{{Authority control
Employee benefits
Leave of absence
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Labour in Norway