You are on holiday but have no money to do things during your holiday or you are bored to death and don’t know what to do at all. Why not start a holiday job, you earn money with it to do fun things or save and you use your time usefully. But how do you look for such a job and what is involved?
How do I get a summer job?
There are different ways to look for a summer job. For example via:
- Advertisements in the newspaper
- Internet
- An employment agency
- Spontaneously apply for jobs
- Through other friends or family
- …
First and foremost, you can register with the various employment agencies everywhere. They will look for a job for you that you can do during the holidays. Of course, you must be fifteen years or older to register for this because this is laid down by law. Also search the internet such as the website ,www.scholierenwerk.nl, where you can register and search for different jobs that suit you. If you don’t find something right away, no problem, because you can always visit different companies and businesses to apply spontaneously, but it is always possible that they are still looking for some help without a vacancy having been made for it. There are different ways to look for a part-time job, but it is important that you start looking early in advance because several students are naturally looking for a job during their holidays.
From what age can I start a holiday job?
Younger than thirteen years old
You may only start an official holiday job when you turn thirteen. If you are younger than thirteen, you are allowed to do small jobs for your parents or neighbors, such as going shopping for your grandmother or helping out in the garden for your neighbors.
Thirteen or fourteen years old
As a thirteen or fourteen year old you are only allowed to work during the day until 7 p.m. This is not allowed for longer than 4 weeks, during which you may work a maximum of 35 hours per week, so this is a maximum of 7 hours per day. You are also not allowed to do heavy work, but small jobs where you always work under the supervision of an adult.
Fifteen years
From the age of fifteen you can do more work, including the catering industry. This may be a maximum of 40 hours per week, but may not exceed six weeks. Even from this age you are only allowed to work between seven in the morning and seven in the evening.
Sixteen or seventeen years old
From this age you can work the same hours as an adult, namely 45 hours per week. You are only allowed to work night shifts between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. You are also not allowed to do dangerous work, such as driving machines or moving dangerous substances.
To make money
Minimum wage
What you earn always depends on the minimum youth wage, which is set approximately every two years. You can look at www.jeugd-en-geld.nl by clicking on ‘money from jobs’ and then on ‘what shifts that’. You must enter your details here, after which your minimum youth wage will be calculated. Your employer always starts with this amount and can therefore be higher than this amount but never lower. Everyone who works or has worked also receives holiday pay, which is the same with a holiday job.
Pay taxes
When you work and earn money you must always declare this to your taxes, this is the same with a holiday job. However, you have to fill out a special form for this because you only work for a few weeks and for taxes they otherwise assume that you have worked for a whole year. This special form is called a T1 form: youth refund and you can request it from your local tax authorities or on the tax authorities’ website. You will usually get a tax refund because you paid too much. A young person does not have to pay taxes if he or she earns less than a certain amount that changes every year. You will need your pay slip to declare your earnings for taxes, so be sure to keep it up to date.
Child benefits
The parents receive quarterly (every three months) child benefit to support the child with all kinds of necessities. If the child takes a holiday job under the age of sixteen, this will have no consequences for this allowance because they are not allowed to work more than 40 hours. However, when they are sixteen or seventeen years old, they are not allowed to earn a certain amount set by the SVB. If they exceed this maximum amount, less child benefit will be paid or you will have to pay back the difference later. To consult the current amounts, you can check this on the SVB website: www.svb.nl.