In some jurisdictions, holiday pay is an allowance which an employee earns through work in the calendar year prior to the year of the holiday.
Holiday pay is a legal term in Norway (feriepenger),[1] Sweden (semesterlön),[2] Denmark (feriepenge),[3] Belgium[4] and the Netherlands[5] (vakantiegeld, vakantieuitkering, or pécule de vacances), Germany[6] and Austria (Urlaubsgeld).
[8] An employee who has not been working the previous year has the right of vacation, but does not have the right of holiday pay.
[9] The right of holiday pay is linked to the concept of an employee, which means that one performs work in the service of another.
Holiday pay is normally paid in May and typically is calculated as a minimum of 8% of an employee's gross taxable wage, prorated over the number of months worked and subject to income tax deductions.