Unemployment benefits and holiday pay: Your questions answered

Questioner

I have recently been on unemployment benefit. I was still entitled to holiday pay from my last employer, which they paid out last week. Now someone told me that the UWV considers this as normal income and that it will be deducted from my benefit. But is that correct? The unemployment benefit is calculated on the basis of the gross income that I had, gross means including holiday pay that is normally paid in May. Would like to have an answer to this. It is not about reservations of vacation days but only about the vacation pay that was normally withheld as a reservation from the salary every week.

Lawyer

You must report this income to the UWV. If it concerns income that relates to a period before the start date of the unemployment benefit, then this income may not be deducted from your unemployment benefit. This means that your income from holiday pay may not be deducted from your unemployment benefit in this case. If the UWV does this (or has already done so), then I advise you to object to this. If you want, I can help you with this.