As summer arrives, it is good to refresh your memory about how you accrue annual holiday, how this affects your daily allowance, and how you fill in the application.
Our website provides instructions on filling in your first application, whether you are laid off, entirely unemployed, or working part-time.
If you are entirely unemployed, the daily allowance will be paid as normal, even on midweek public holidays. On the other hand, if you are laid off or working part-time, remember to enter your annual holidays and midweek public holidays in your application.
Right of a laid-off employee to annual holidays and daily allowance
If you have been laid off, you are also entitled to a paid annual holiday in the holiday season from 2 May to 30 September if you accrued days of annual holiday in the previous holiday qualifying year. You can ask your employer whether you have accrued any days of annual holiday.
Any earned annual holiday, up to 24 days of holiday, must be taken during the holiday season from 2 May to 30 September unless you reach a separate agreement with your employer to postpone the annual holiday. The way in which the holiday pay or holiday compensation is paid has absolutely no effect on your entitlement to a holiday. In other words, you may receive the pay for your holiday before you actually take the holiday.
The entitlement to a paid annual holiday is determined according to the collective agreement or the Annual Holidays Act. During each holiday qualifying year, you earn days of annual holiday for the calendar months in which you work 14 days or 35 hours. The first 30 days of temporary lay-off also count towards the annual holiday accrual period. The holiday qualifying year starts on 1 April and ends on 31 March the following year. For example, from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023.
Annual holiday counts for the previous employment requirement – the number of days entitling you to an earnings-related unemployment allowance will not decrease
You are not entitled to an unemployment daily allowance during a period of paid annual holiday if the holiday is based on full-time work. However, paid annual holiday is considered equivalent to time at work, and it accrues a new 26-week prior employment requirement if
- you take at least three days of holiday earned in full-time work during a calendar week.
- for part-time work, your holiday pay corresponds to at least 18 hours of work during a calendar week.
Paid annual holiday will not count towards the maximum period for which you can be paid a daily allowance (300–500 days) unless it is a part-time annual holiday and the fund pays you the agreed daily allowance during the holiday.
Entering annual holiday in the application
If you have been on annual holiday during your lay-off and your employer has paid you a salary or wage for the duration of your annual holiday, you should enter “annual holiday” alongside the days when you were on annual holiday and enter the number of working hours corresponding to your normal working time. For example, if your working time is 8 hours per day, enter “annual holiday” under the annual holiday day and add “8 hours” under the number of working hours.
If you work part-time, in the annual leave section of the application form, enter “annual leave” and the number of hours for which you will be paid for annual leave. You may be paid an adjusted allowance if the pay you receive during your annual holiday is based on part-time work.
Entering midweek public holidays in the application
If your employer pays you compensation for a midweek public holiday or the public holiday does not reduce your salary, enter “paid midweek public holiday” in the application for these days.
Your holiday bonus for full-time work does not affect the daily allowance
Holiday bonuses paid for full-time work do not affect the payment of daily allowances. However, a holiday bonus determined for part-time work is taken into consideration when calculating the adjusted allowance.
Remember to keep your job search active at the TE Office
Earnings-related unemployment allowances can only be paid to unemployed jobseekers registered with a TE Office. So please remember to keep your job search active all the time you are unemployed, laid off or in part-time work.
