The concentration of public holidays in May is costing employers a total of €510 million, according to economists. May is unusual in having three public holidays: Labour Day on 1 May, Ascension on 14 May and Pentecost on 25 May.
This concentration of three holidays in one month means a loss of income for small businesses that close on those days, while staff have to be paid. The option of giving employees another day off in lieu of the actual holiday is not available to all, particularly those with children at school, whose holidays are not flexible.
The French employers’ organisation has proposed dropping two public holidays from their annual total of 11, but no similar idea has been suggested in Belgium.
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