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Understand · Payroll glossary

What is departure holiday pay?

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Departure holiday pay is the holiday pay a white-collar worker receives on leaving their employer, for the months already worked in the year. In 2026: 15.34% (white-collar workers: departure holiday pay). In Dutch: vertrekvakantiegeld.

Definition of departure holiday pay

Because normal holiday pay is only paid the following year, the employer you are leaving pays you in advance what you have already earned: 15.34% of gross pay in the holiday service year (7.67% single holiday pay, 6.80% double holiday pay and 0.87% supplement).

Your new employer will then pay less holiday pay, since those days have already been paid. On tax form 281.10 (fiche 281.10), this advance holiday pay is shown separately (code 251).

The key figure in 2026

15.34%White-collar workers: departure holiday pay

Source: À combien s’élève le pécule de vacances de départ ?, Securex (secondary source). Value in force on 1 October 2026.

Worked example

You leave your employer on 30 June 2026 after six months at €3,000 gross: €18,000 × 15.34% = €2,761.20 gross in departure holiday pay, paid with your last salary.

In Dutch: vertrekvakantiegeld

On a Dutch-language payslip or statement, departure holiday pay is called ‘vertrekvakantiegeld’; on a French-language one, ‘pécule de sortie’.

Dutch term taken from: National Social Security Office (NSSO).

Not to be confused with…

  • Payment in lieu of notice: the sum the employer pays instead of a worked notice period: the pay you would have received during that notice.
  • Double holiday pay: extra pay for your holidays, on top of your normal salary: 92% of a month’s gross pay for a full-time white-collar worker.

Calculate it for your situation

Your notice period in 2026, the payment in lieu of notice in gross and net, and what you receive when you leave.

Notice and dismissal

Related terms

  • Holiday payBonuses, holiday pay and benefits · in Dutch: vakantiegeld
  • Single holiday payBonuses, holiday pay and benefits · in Dutch: enkel vakantiegeld
  • Notice periodContract, working time and career · in Dutch: opzegtermijn

Sources

Parameters in force on 1 October 2026. Each parameter links to its source, the official one where it exists; a secondary source is flagged as such.