Public holidays in Netherlands, 2026

How Netherlands public holidays work in 2026

The Netherlands does not have public holidays guaranteed by statute. The Algemene Termijnenwet of 1964 lists eleven algemeen erkende feestdagen for the purpose of moving administrative deadlines, but whether workers actually get paid leave on those days is left entirely to the collective labour agreement (CAO) or the individual employment contract. Liberation Day on 5 May is a paid holiday once every five years for civil servants and in CAOs that adopted the rule, but not in most private sectors. The Dutch list is unusual for omitting Epiphany, Assumption and All Saints; Easter Monday, Whit Monday and Christmas Boxing Day are all included.

Working days in Netherlands

The Algemene Termijnenwet defines werkdag as any day other than Saturday, Sunday and the eleven listed feestdagen, used for administrative and procedural deadlines. Civil procedure under article 1 of the Algemene Termijnenwet rolls deadlines from a non-werkdag to the next werkdag. The standard private-sector working week is Monday to Friday, with banks operating Monday to Friday. Statutory annual leave under article 7:634 of the Burgerlijk Wetboek is four times the weekly working hours, so a 40-hour week gives 20 days. Settlement for euro transactions follows TARGET2, which closes on only six days, not the Dutch list.

For people planning cross-border meetings, the practical move is to overlay Netherlands's calendar with the calendars of the other countries on your team. A week that looks completely clear from your end might be a national holiday on theirs. The compare tool above pairs two country calendars and highlights the overlapping closures, so you can spot the weeks where almost no one is at their desk before you put a launch on the board.