Collective holidays
The Executive Board may, in accordance with Article 4.7(5) of the Collective Labour Agreement and with the approval of the employee organisations in the Local Consultation, designate up to seven days per year as collective holidays. At the beginning of the calendar year collective holidays are deducted from the hours that expires first. As a rule these are the compensatory leave hours. If you are not participating in the plus option of the Flexible working hours scheme and therefore do not accrue any compensatory hours, collective holidays will be deducted from the statutory holiday leave entitlement. No hours will be deducted if a collective holiday falls on an employee’s scheduled day off.
Public holidays
Public holidays are mentioned in Article 4.8(1) of the CAO and are granted as days off with retention of remuneration. If a public holiday falls on a day on which you are not scheduled to work (a scheduled day off), then the holiday will not be compensated at a different time (nor will any time accrue to the holiday leave balance).
Good Friday
With effect from calendar year 2024 employees working on a fixed schedule on Fridays may exchange Good Friday for another religious, national, regional or local holiday or day of remembrance (Article 4.8(5) CAO).
As VU Amsterdam is in theory closed on Good Friday, the manager may refuse this request in case the employee holds a position that does not permit working from home or from one of the VU buildings that might be open on this day and in which the manager needs to weigh up whether the employee can perform his or her work on the VU campus.
In addition, the manager may refuse if the employee submits the request later than one month before Good Friday.
If the request is granted by the manager, the employee will take this day in consultation with the manager without using the self-service option. Good Friday will remain a public holiday on the holiday leave chart of the employee.