AOb wins court case over maternity leave for secondary education
Secondary education workers who are on maternity or maternity leave during a school holiday should be compensated for this. The Utrecht Subdistrict Court decided this in a case that the AOb on behalf of one of its members.
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Suppose you are an employee in secondary education, and your pregnancy or maternity leave falls partly or entirely during a school holiday. In that case, you will not be able to make use of your holiday entitlements due to your pregnancy or delivery. And then you should be able to make up for your 'missed' vacation days later, the judge decided.
Missed days
Until now, missed days could only be made up if they fell during the summer holidays. In case of missed days during other holidays, employers often did not allow this, because the collective labor agreement provided for this.
“By not compensating for holidays for women, however, the employer makes a distinction between employment conditions based on gender,” says lawyer Joost Aarts of the AOb. “And that is prohibited. Furthermore, not compensating vacation days is contrary to the Work and Care Act. ” The Subdistrict Court adopted that reasoning. “A nice victory”, says Aarts. The opposing party - a school board - can still appeal.
By not compensating holidays for women, the employer makes a distinction in terms of employment on the basis of gender
Effects
The ruling has major consequences for female employees in secondary education who take maternity leave. "If you have not been compensated for holiday during pregnancy or maternity leave in the past period, I advise you to contact your employer," says Aarts. In primary education, it is already possible for female employees to take compensation for missed vacation days after having a child.
