National holidays

The following days are national holidays at the University. You do not have to work on national holidays, unless this is in the interest of the University. You have these days off, without having to use vacation hours:

• New Year's Day (1 January)
• Good Friday (18 April)
• Easter Sunday and Monday (20 and 21 April)
• King's Day (the day upon which King's Day is celebrated nationally, 26 April)
• Liberation Day (5 May)
• Ascension Day (29 May)
• Whit Sunday and Monday (8 and 9 June)
• Relief of Leiden (3 October)
• Christmas Day and Boxing Day (25 and 26 December)

October 3 is a holiday in Leiden. If 3 October falls on a Sunday, the holiday is celebrated on Monday 4 October.

Good Friday exchangeable

As of 2024, it is possible to exchange Good Friday for another religious, national, regional or local holiday or day of remembrance (for example; Keti Koti, Carnival or National Remembrance Day).

For more information, visit the leave page.

Compulsory closures

You have to take vacation on a compulsory closure day. The number of hours that you normally would have worked on this day are deducted from your vacation credit. These holiday hours are automatically deducted from your holiday entitlement at the start of the year. If the situation changes in the course of the year and the compulsory closure no longer applies to you or conversely does apply to you (e.g. due to a change in schedule or to the end date of your contract), the correction to your holiday entitlement will be automatically processed once again. The Executive Board may - after a consent of the trade unions in the Local Consultation - specify a maximum of seven days per year as compulsory closures.

It may happen that you do have to work on a compulsory closure day. In that case the day is considered a normal working day and is therefore not deducted from your vacation credit.

If you are sick during a compulsory closure, these days are still deducted as vacation hours. The days are only recredited if you are not able to take up days of leave for such reasons as being admitted to a hospital.