The 5 most frequently asked questions about schedules, breaks and negative hours in hospitality

Written by:
Jacob de Graaff

Can your employer change your schedule at the last minute? Are you always entitled to a break? And what happens to your pay if you are ill, work on a public holiday or accumulate negative hours?

These are five frequently asked questions from hospitality employees about working hours and pay. For each question, you will first find the short answer, followed by the most important rules.

This article is based on the Dutch Hospitality Collective Labour Agreement 2025–2026, which runs from 1 January 2025 through 31 December 2026. Always check whether this collective labour agreement applies to your employer and employment contract.

The most important rules at a glance

1. Can my employer change my schedule at short notice?

Short answer: yes, a schedule can be changed, but your employer cannot make last-minute changes without limits or on a structural basis.

Under the Dutch Hospitality Collective Labour Agreement, your employer must publish the work schedule at least three weeks in advance.

Once the schedule has been established, it can still be changed if business circumstances make this necessary. Your employer must discuss the change with you, and the change must be reasonable.

An unexpected situation in a hotel or restaurant may therefore be a valid reason to change a shift. However, repeatedly changing schedules at the last minute without consultation is not consistent with this rule.

What about a zero-hours contract?

Different rules apply to on-call employees. If you work under a zero-hours contract covered by the Dutch Hospitality Collective Labour Agreement, you must generally be called in at least 24 hours in advance.

If you are called in less than 24 hours before the start of the shift, you are generally not required to accept it.

If your employer cancels an existing shift or changes the call within 24 hours of its scheduled start, you are generally still entitled to the wages you would have earned for the original shift.

Always keep your original schedule and any messages from your employer regarding last-minute changes. This will allow you to demonstrate when your shift was changed.

Read more: Zero-hours contracts in the hospitality industry

2. Am I entitled to a break during a hospitality shift?

Short answer: yes. If you are an adult and work for more than 5.5 hours, you are generally entitled to a break of at least 30 minutes.

During a busy lunch service, a full terrace or a hectic evening shift, employees may sometimes skip their breaks. However, being busy is not a valid reason to regularly require employees to work without a break.

The following rules generally apply to employees aged 18 and over:

• If you work for more than 5.5 hours, you are entitled to a break of at least 30 minutes.

• This break may be divided into two breaks of 15 minutes.

• If you work for more than 10 hours, you are entitled to a break of at least 45 minutes.

• These 45 minutes may be divided into breaks of at least 15 minutes each.

Stricter rules apply to employees under the age of 18.

What counts as a genuine break?

A break means that you must actually be able to stop working. If you have to remain behind reception, take orders, answer telephone calls or immediately return to work when it becomes busy, it cannot automatically be assumed that you have genuinely had a break.

There are exceptions for jobs where the nature of the work makes it difficult to take a normal break, but specific conditions apply.

If you regularly do not receive a break, keep your own record of your start and finish times and the breaks you actually take. Under the Dutch Hospitality Collective Labour Agreement, your employer must also maintain an accurate record of working hours and rest periods.

3. Will I be paid if I am ill during my probationary period or while on a zero-hours contract?

Short answer: often, yes. A probationary period or zero-hours contract does not automatically mean that you will not be paid when you are ill.

As long as your employment contract remains in effect, the rules on continued payment of wages during illness generally apply.

Under the Dutch Hospitality Collective Labour Agreement, there is usually one unpaid waiting day for each period of illness. This means that you will not be paid for the first day of illness.

If you become ill again within four weeks of recovering, this is generally treated as part of the same period of illness. In that case, another unpaid waiting day cannot usually be applied.

By law, continued payment during illness must amount to at least 70% of your wages. Subject to certain conditions, the Dutch Hospitality Collective Labour Agreement supplements this to:

• 95% of the monthly wage during the first 52 weeks;

• 75% during the following 52 weeks.

Are you paid during illness if you have a zero-hours contract?

You may also be entitled to continued payment of wages if you have a zero-hours contract.

If you become ill during a period for which you had already been called in, you are generally entitled to payment for the hours you would have worked.

For employees whose hours vary, the average number of hours worked before the illness may also be taken into account. A zero-hours contract therefore does not automatically mean: no work due to illness means no pay.

4. Will I receive extra pay for working on a public holiday?

Short answer: not automatically. Under the Dutch Hospitality Collective Labour Agreement, qualified employees who work on certain public holidays initially receive time off in lieu rather than an immediate financial allowance.

There is no general statutory rule in the Netherlands stating that employees must receive double pay for working on a public holiday.

Whether you receive additional compensation depends on your collective labour agreement, employment contract or company policy.

The Dutch Hospitality Collective Labour Agreement lists nine public holidays:

• New Year’s Day;

• Easter Sunday and Easter Monday;

• King’s Day;

• Ascension Day;

• Whit Sunday and Whit Monday;

• Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

If you are classified as a qualified employee under the Dutch Hospitality Collective Labour Agreement and your shift starts on one of these public holidays, you will initially receive one hour of paid time off in lieu for every hour worked.

Read more: Working on public holidays under the Dutch Hospitality Collective Labour Agreement

When are you entitled to an allowance?

If your employer is unable to provide the compensatory time off within three months of the public holiday, the time-off-in-lieu arrangement no longer applies to these hours. Under the collective labour agreement, you will then be entitled to an allowance equal to 50% of your hourly wage.

For example, if you work on Boxing Day and do not see an allowance on your next payslip, this does not necessarily mean that something has gone wrong. First check whether you will receive compensatory paid time off.

If three months have passed without you receiving either time off in lieu or the corresponding allowance, you should raise the matter with your employer.

Please note that not every official public holiday is covered by this arrangement. Good Friday and Liberation Day, for example, are not included among the nine public holidays listed in the collective labour agreement.

5. Can my employer register negative hours when the hotel is quiet?

Short answer: negative hours can arise, but your employer cannot automatically hold you responsible for them or deduct them from your salary. The most important consideration is who is responsible for the shortfall in hours.

Hotels and other hospitality businesses experience busy and quiet periods. For this reason, normal working hours under the Dutch Hospitality Collective Labour Agreement are calculated over a reference period of twelve consecutive months.

For a full-time position, this amounts to 1,976 hours per reference period, or an average of 38 hours per week.

You therefore do not have to work exactly 38 hours every week. You may work more hours during a busy week and fewer hours during a quiet week.

What happens to negative hours at the end of the year?

If, at the end of the reference period, you have worked fewer hours than the average agreed with your employer while continuing to receive your normal salary, negative hours may have accumulated.

The main consideration is why those negative hours arose.

If negative hours remain at the end of the reference period, they generally expire under the Dutch Hospitality Collective Labour Agreement, unless the reason for them can reasonably be attributed to the employee.

For example, if the hotel is quiet and your employer therefore schedules you for fewer hours, it would not be reasonable to automatically hold you responsible for the negative hours.

The situation may be different if you failed to work agreed shifts without a valid reason.

If you are responsible for the negative hours, the collective labour agreement allows you up to three months after the end of the reference period to make up those hours.

Can an employer deduct negative hours from your final settlement?

Not automatically. When your employment contract ends, negative hours may only be deducted if the reason for them can reasonably be attributed to you. If work is still available, your employer must also give you the opportunity to work those hours before your contract ends.

Read more: Overtime and negative hours in the hospitality industry

What can you do if your pay, schedule or working hours are incorrect?

Keep copies of your:

• employment contract;

• work schedules;

• hours worked;

• schedule changes;

• messages calling you in for shifts;

• payslips;

• registered holiday hours and compensation hours.

You should also check which collective labour agreement applies to you. Not every employee working in a hotel or hospitality business is automatically covered by the same agreement.

If you and your employer are unable to resolve the issue together, you can seek advice from your trade union or the Juridisch Loket, the Dutch Legal Services Counter. In cases involving unpaid wages, illness or possible dismissal, it may be advisable to obtain legal advice promptly.

The 5 questions answered briefly

1. Can my employer change my schedule?

Yes, but under the Dutch Hospitality Collective Labour Agreement, the schedule should generally be published three weeks in advance. Later changes must be reasonable and discussed with you.

2. Am I entitled to a break?

Yes. If you are an adult and work for more than 5.5 hours, you are generally entitled to a break of at least 30 minutes.

3. Will I be paid if I am ill while on a zero-hours contract or during my probationary period?

Often, yes. As long as your employment contract remains in effect, the rules on continued payment of wages during illness may apply.

4. Will I receive an allowance for working on a public holiday?

Not immediately. Under the Dutch Hospitality Collective Labour Agreement, qualified employees initially receive time off in lieu. If this compensation cannot be provided within three months, an allowance of 50% may become payable.

5. Can my employer hold me responsible for negative hours because business is quiet?

Not automatically. If your employer schedules you for fewer hours because there is insufficient work, responsibility for the negative hours does not automatically lie with you.

This article provides general information about the rules applicable in August 2026 and does not constitute individual legal advice.