What is exit holiday pay?
Exit holiday pay is the holiday pay your employer settles when your contract ends. It covers the leave you have built up in the current year but will take with your next employer.
It is due whatever the reason for leaving: resignation, dismissal or the end of a fixed-term contract. It is separate from the notice period and from any notice indemnity.
How much is exit holiday pay?
For white-collar employees it is 15.34% of the gross pay earned during the current year, split into 7.67% simple holiday pay and 7.67% double holiday pay, according to the ONSS instructions.
If you still had untaken leave from the previous year, a second payment for that year is added, as Securex explains. Example: if you earned €40,000 gross between January and your departure, the exit holiday pay is €6,136 gross.
Why does your next employer pay you less holiday pay?
Because you have already been paid. Your old employer gives you a holiday certificate stating the days and amounts covered. Your new employer uses it to deduct, from the holiday pay it owes you the next year, what you already received.
This surprises many people in their first year in a new job: the double holiday pay in May or June is smaller than expected, or close to nothing. It is not an error. The money arrived earlier, on your last payslip with the previous employer.
What should you check when you change jobs?
Three things. That the exit holiday pay appears on your final payslip, that you receive the holiday certificate, and that you hand it to your new employer.
Plan for the cash effect too: a large exit payment in your last month, and a smaller holiday pay with the new employer the next spring. If your move is from a permanent job to freelancing, there is no next employer to deduct anything, and no holiday pay at all from then on. If you are planning a move, you can browse the IT and engineering roles currently open.
