On Monday, May 5, 2025, Liberation Day falls in a lustrum year. This raises the question: do employees get paid time off on this day? The answer depends on the agreements in the company's collective labor agreement or employment conditions scheme.

Since 1959, the Labor Foundation has recommended that employees in anniversary years be given time off on May 5, with full pay. This also applies to Liberation Day in 2025. The Foundation recently advised the decentralized collective labor agreement parties to follow this recommendation, as long as working conditions and company interests do not stand in the way.

In practice, most employees will also be off work on May 5 and will continue to receive their salary, but the law does not prescribe that Liberation Day is automatically a paid day off. What happens depends on what is stated in the collective labor agreement or employment conditions scheme (avr). In some cases, a 100 percent surcharge may even be paid or a time-for-time arrangement applies if employees work on this day.

If there is no collective labor agreement or employment conditions scheme for the company, and the employer does not give time off on Liberation Day, the employer is not obliged to offer additional compensation.

This news item is important for employees because it makes it clear what their rights are on Liberation Day and whether they are entitled to continued payment of wages or compensation if they have to work. It helps them understand what to expect and which agreements apply in their specific situation.

Source:https://www.salaryvanmorgen.nl/2025/03/04/bevrijdingsdag-in-lustrumjaar-vrij-met-houden-van-loon/