Holidays and holiday bonus

Holiday bonus is a benefit agreed between unions

Under the universities’ collective agreement, everyone is entitled to holiday bonus. Employees receive it on the basis of their right to annual leave. Returning to work after annual leave is not a condition for the bonus, and if certain conditions are met, you can also be paid holiday bonus when ending employment.

The size of the holiday bonus is 4–6% of monthly salary multiplied by the number of full holiday credit months. For employees who are not on a monthly salary, the holiday bonus is 50% of pay during annual leave.

An employee can agree with his or her employer to swap holiday bonus for time off. Holiday bonus is paid at the same time as pay for July. It is set in accordance with the role the employee performs in June.

When you finish working for an employer, you are paid holiday bonus for all the annual leave days you accrued by the end of employment and for which you were not paid holiday pay. As of 1 August 2022, holiday bonus paid upon termination of employment is reduced by half if the employment ends

  • because the employee quits during the probation period
  • because the employee terminates employment for any other reason than retirement
  • when the employment is deemed cancelled (per the Employment Contracts Act, Chapter 8, Section 3) or
  • in termination or cancellation of employment on grounds related to the employee’s person (per the Employment Contracts Act, Chapter 7, Sections 1–2 and Chapter 8, Section 1); however, not when termination is due to the employee’s substantial and long-term reduced work capacity (Employment Contracts Act, Chapter 7, Section 2, Subsection 2, Paragraph 1).

Two different holiday credit methods

How long annual leave is and how the employee takes it depend on whether the employee is a member of teaching and research staff or of specialist and support staff.

Teaching and research staff agree in a working time plan on their working time and how they will spend it on tasks set by a work plan. Annual working time is 1,612 hours, and each employee is independently responsible for fulfilling his or her work plan and time management. Working time which is not agreed in the working time plan consists of the employee’s leisure time and leave, for example.

Regarding annual leave for non-teaching and research staff, the agreement is that each calendar week of leave uses up five holiday days, and that a full holiday credit month is a calendar month during which the employee has worked at least 14 days or 35 hours. The length of annual leave depends on the length of employment. Service of at least 15 years entitles the employee to 38 days of annual leave. Service time also includes work at another university, at a state research facility, for the state, and other work with a substantial connection to present employment. Sick leave and paid parental leave are also included in service time. Employees with service of over a year but less than 15 years are entitled to 30 days of annual leave.