Holiday outside school holiday.

You may not take your child on holiday outside school holidays. But can you leave a day earlier to start the holiday? How do you ask for time off if you cannot go on holiday during school holidays because of your work? And what are the consequences if you go without permission?

Conditions for leave outside school holidays due to job

To go on holiday with your child outside the school holidays and free days, you must meet some conditions. Only then may the school principal give permission. 

Your child may only go on holiday outside the school holidays if you meet these 4 conditions:

• You cannot go on holiday during one of the school holidays because of your job. You must prove this.
• The holiday is not in the first two weeks after the summer holiday.  
• You have not been on holiday outside the school holiday this school year yet.  
• Your child goes on holiday with the family. 

When do I have the right to holiday or leave outside the school holidays?

This is hard to say. The law is quite strict. There must be no other way to go on family holiday. For example, can you hire someone else? Or is there another school holiday when the family can go? Then the law says you do not have the right to holiday outside school holidays. This means you can rarely force a holiday outside school holidays. 

In practice, every school handles this differently. If you doubt, ask the school principal. The principal decides if you can get permission to go on holiday outside school holidays. 

Applying for holiday outside school holidays

If you think you have the right to holiday outside school holidays, you can make a request to the school principal. The law calls this a ‘request for exemption.’ It is smart to apply as early as possible, but at least 8 weeks before. Most schools have their own form. You find more information about asking for leave in the school guide. 

The principal checks the request. The principal weighs the importance of education for your child against the importance of a family holiday. Every school looks at this differently. 

A day earlier on holiday?

Sometimes you want more flexibility with holidays. For example, to avoid traffic jams or because the flight is cheaper. However tempting, it is not allowed. More schools and compulsory education officers check sick reports just before or after holidays. A false sick report can have bad consequences. 

Going on holiday without permission. What are the consequences?

When you keep your child from school outside school holidays without permission, this is called ‘luxury absenteeism.’ The school must report this to the compulsory education officer of the municipality. Then you break the law and that can have consequences. What happens depends on the situation.  

Fines for school absence

If you went on holiday outside school holidays but always followed the law until then, you can get a fine of about 100 euros per day your child misses school. For a week this can rise to 600 euros per family and for two weeks the amount is 900 euros per family.  

If you repeat luxury absenteeism or have long luxury absenteeism, the fines can be higher or you might have to go to court. If children often or for long periods miss school without good reasons, the child protection board can be called in.