Maternity leave Netherlands 2026: how long it lasts, what you are paid, and partner and parental leave

An employee gets at least 16 weeks: zwangerschapsverlof (pregnancy leave) before the birth and bevallingsverlof (birth leave) after it (UWV).

• Start: you choose a day between 6 and 4 weeks before the day after your due date, or between 10 and 8 weeks with twins or more (UWV). Count back from the day after the due date.
• Working longer: days of pregnancy leave you do not take before the birth are added to your birth leave.
• After the birth: birth leave starts the next day and lasts at least 10 weeks. If the baby comes early, the days before the due date are added.
• Going back part-time: from 7 weeks after the birth you can return partly and take the rest of the leave in parts within 30 weeks. Ask your employer at the latest 3 weeks after the birth; they can only refuse if the business would get into serious trouble.
• Baby in hospital: if your newborn is admitted during birth leave, the leave is extended by the days in hospital from the 8th day on, up to 10 weeks (Work and Care Act). Send the hospital’s statement to your employer, who asks UWV for the extension (UWV).

An employed partner gets geboorteverlof (birth leave, also called paternity or partner leave) of once the weekly working hours on full pay, taken within 4 weeks of the birth, and then up to 5 weeks of additional leave at 70% paid by UWV within 6 months (Rijksoverheid, checked 28 September 2026). Your partner has separate rights. Our guide to paternity and parental leave in the Netherlands covers birth leave, the 5 extra weeks and the 9 paid parental weeks.

• Week 1, full pay: if you work 5 days of 6 hours, you get 30 hours of leave. Your employer keeps paying your full salary, and you take the days as you like within 4 weeks of the birth.
• 5 more weeks at 70%: after that week, aanvullend geboorteverlof (additional birth leave) of up to 5 times the weekly hours, within 6 months of the birth. You must take the first week before it. There is no salary; UWV pays at most 70% of your daily wage, capped at 70% of the maximum daily wage of €309.91, which works out at about €216.94 gross a day in 2026 (UWV). Holiday allowance is calculated on the benefit and paid with it.
• Who pays: UWV pays the benefit to your employer, who pays you, unless your employer asks UWV to pay you directly (UWV).
• Holiday days: the additional leave does not affect your statutory holiday days. Extra holiday days and pension depend on your CAO, contract and pension scheme.
• Who counts as the partner: someone who acknowledged the child, is married to or in a registered partnership with the mother, or lives with her and shares only with her the costs of the home (UWV).
• Flexible: 5 weeks in a row or spread over the 6 months. Twins do not add weeks.

1. Tell your employer when you want the 1 week of partner leave and whether you want the additional weeks. The first week you arrange directly with your employer.
2. Your employer applies to UWV after the birth, for all the additional weeks at once, and confirms you took the first week within a month of the birth. If your employer cannot or will not apply, you can call UWV yourself (UWV).
3. UWV decides within 4 weeks of a complete application, and you see the decision in Mijn UWV. Apply in time: if the application arrives after the leave, UWV only pays for the period within 1 year before it received it.

Your employer may not dismiss you because you are pregnant, and not at all during your leave and the 6 weeks after it (Rijksoverheid).

• Protected periods: pregnancy leave, birth leave, the first 6 weeks after birth leave, and any time you are unfit for work because of the pregnancy or birth, plus 6 weeks after that.
• The exceptions: only special cases, such as the business or your department stopping its work, or serious misconduct like fraud or violence.
• No changes because of the pregnancy: your employer may not cut your hours, change your role, swap your permanent contract for a temporary one or shorten a temporary contract.
• Dismissed anyway? You can ask the court within 2 months to reverse the dismissal, or ask the kantonrechter (subdistrict court) for compensation instead. See the 2-month deadline to challenge a dismissal and what to do when you are dismissed.
• Breastfeeding: in the first 9 months after the birth you may breastfeed or pump during working hours, for up to a quarter of each shift, and your employer must set up a room for it that locks from the inside and has a working fridge (Rijksoverheid).

Self-employed women can get the Zelfstandige en Zwanger (ZEZ) benefit from UWV for at least 16 weeks, or 20 with twins or more (UWV).

• Who: the self-employed, freelancers and professionals such as GPs or artists, a director who is the majority shareholder, and a partner who works in the other partner’s business.
• How much: at most the minimum wage. With at least 1,225 hours of self-employed work in the calendar year before the benefit starts, you always get the minimum wage; with fewer hours UWV looks at your profit or income.
• Applying: between 4 and 2 weeks before the start date you choose. Late applications can go back up to 1 year, and the decision usually comes within 2 weeks after the start date.