How much leave you get when the baby comes

At a glance

A “working week” here means your own weekly hours: if you work 32 hours a week, one week of leave is 32 hours.

This guide covers employees. If you’re self-employed, different rules apply; UWV explains what you can get.

Pregnancy and maternity leave

The birth parent has at least 16 weeks of leave in total, in two parts.

Pregnancy leave (zwangerschapsverlof) starts when you choose, between 6 and 4 weeks before the due date. With twins or more, it starts between 10 and 8 weeks before. If you start later than 6 weeks before, the days you didn’t take are added to the leave after the birth.

Maternity leave (bevallingsverlof) starts the day after the birth and always lasts at least 10 weeks. If the baby comes later than the due date, you still get your full 10 weeks.

A few things worth knowing:

• If the baby stays in hospital for more than 7 days during your leave, the leave can last up to 9 weeks longer.
• From 7 weeks after the birth, you can agree with your employer to go back part-time and spread the rest of your leave over 30 weeks from the start of your maternity leave. Ask your employer no later than 3 weeks after the birth.
• The pay is 100% of your daily wage, up to the legal maximum. Your employer arranges the benefit with UWV.

Birth leave for the partner

The partner gets one working week of birth leave (geboorteverlof) on full pay, paid by the employer. You can take the days as you like, as long as it’s within 4 weeks of the birth. On the day of the birth itself, partners can also take emergency leave.

Extra birth leave

After that week, the partner can take up to 5 more working weeks of extra birth leave (aanvullend geboorteverlof):

• within 6 months of the birth;
• only after taking the first week of birth leave;
• with a benefit from UWV of 70% of the daily wage, up to 70% of the legal maximum.

Your employer applies for the benefit with UWV and pays it to you. Agree the dates with your employer in good time.

Parental leave

Both parents have parental leave (ouderschapsverlof): 26 times their weekly hours, per child, until the child turns 8.

Nine of those weeks are paid at 70% of the daily wage, up to a maximum, if you take them within the baby’s first year. The other 17 weeks are unpaid, unless your CAO or contract says otherwise.

• You can take the paid hours all at once or spread them out, for example one day a week.
• Discuss your plans with your employer at least 2 months before your first day of leave.
• Your employer can’t refuse the paid parental leave.

Planning it together

The leave is most useful when the two of you plan it side by side. A common pattern:

1. The birth parent takes pregnancy and maternity leave.
2. The partner takes the week of birth leave right after the birth, and the extra birth leave in the weeks or months after.
3. When maternity leave ends, both parents use parental leave to cover a day or two a week, until daycare starts.

Every family is different: different work weeks, different employers, a different start date for daycare. The useful question is whether every workday has someone at home or a place at daycare.

Check your own situation

The numbers in this guide are the legal minimums for employees. Many CAOs and contracts add more, such as extra pay during parental leave. Check yours, or ask your employer or HR. This guide is general information, not legal advice. For your own situation, your employer and UWV have the final word.