Updated on 07/09/2023
Labor and social law is characterized by an almost unmanageable number of legal regulations.
The OGBL helps you keep track of this labyrinth and explains the main legal provisions here.
If you can’t find here what you’re looking for, please either run a detailed search, check the FAQ or contact us.
A collective bargaining agreement (CBA) regulates the rights and obligations of the contracting parties, the employer or the employers’ association on the one hand and the trade union on the other, on behalf of the employees.
There are 3 types of collective agreements in Luxembourg:
A CBA regulates salaries, salary increases, working hours and other working conditions for employees in a branch or company. With the exception of the social minimum wage, salaries are not prescribed by law and therefore the level of wages, career development, etc. can only be improved by a CBA.
Collective agreements improve the legal minimum standards (salaries, leave, working hours, breaks, etc.) and also have a protective function. They guarantee a decent standard of living and working conditions. A CBA also regulates the internal continuing vocational training in the company or at the level of a branch, equality between women and men, etc.
According to the Labor Code, Title VI – Collective Labor Relations Chapter I – Collective Bargaining Agreements and Chapter II. – Negotiating a Collective Bargaining Agreement, a CBA can only be negotiated by a trade union recognized as a general national representative – the largest and most important is the OGBL. A trade union that is representative of a particular sector can also negotiate at branch level.
A collective agreement has a minimum duration of 6 months and a maximum duration of 3 years.
The right to define the rules of working relationship independently of the state is called tariff autonomy.
The OGBL negotiates more than 200 collective agreements. Approximately 50% of all employees in Luxembourg benefit from the advantages of a CBA. If you want to find out more about the CBA in your company or sector of activity, please contact the relevant professional syndicate.
The cost-of-living benefit (allocation de vie chère – AVC) allows low-income households to better cope with rising prices for consumer goods. The amount depends on the composition of the household. Household income must not exceed the thresholds below. The benefit is free of taxes and social security contributions.
The AVC is paid upon application by the National Solidarity Fund, subject to certain conditions. The form is available here or through www.myguichet.lu.
Each form must be completed in full, accompanied by a bank customer ID, signed by all applicants of legal age or their legal representatives, and submitted before 31/10/2023.
Persons who have already received a cost-of-living benefit will receive a pre-filled form from the National Solidarity Fund (Fonds nationale de solidarité – FNS) at the end of the year in question.
An energy allowance has been introduced for low-income households. This allowance varies between a minimum of €200 and €400 depending on the income and composition of the household. The maximum income limits for eligibility correspond to those of the cost-of-living benefit plus 25% (see table below).
The energy allowance is a temporary measure, limited to the years 2022, 2023 and 2024. The application for the energy allowance must be submitted no later than October 31, 2023. After this deadline, the application will be rejected. The form is available here or via www.myguichet.lu.
The energy allowance will be paid along with the AVC.
Individuals who have submitted an application to receive the AVC do not need to submit a second application.
Limits on gross monthly household income
Note that applicants with income above the eligibility limit may receive a reduced AVC/energy allowance. The amount of this allowance is the difference between the AVC/energy allowance amounts an applicant in a similar situation would normally receive and the part of the annual income that exceeds the threshold.
Dependency insurance is a compulsory insurance based on the same principle as health insurance. Coverage includes the insured person him-/herself and his/her family members. The amount of the contribution is 1.4% of the insured person’s total gross income, reduced by a quarter of the social minimum wage and deducted from net income.
Cross-border workers are also entitled to dependency insurance benefits in accordance with the terms and conditions of the bilateral agreements.
There are fixed-term and permanent employment contracts as well as employment contracts for pupils and students. They can be on a full-time (40 hours/week) or part-time basis.
Trial periods can be set within the framework of the employment contracts. These can last between 2 weeks and 12 months. The duration of the trial period must be fixed in writing. It cannot be renewed for successive contracts with the same employer.
For part-time contracts, the weekly working hours and the type of work must be precisely defined in the contract.
The OGBL also demands the introduction of a legal basis allowing employees to choose guaranteed options for part-time work. This right should be combined with a right to return to full-time work at the end of the period. At present, this is only possible on the basis of a joint written agreement between the employer and the person concerned and therefore depends on the goodwill of the employer.
Fixed-term employment contracts have a maximum duration of two years and can only be extended twice during this period and the extension must already be provided for in the basic contract. However, there are legal exemptions for certain sectors and occupational groups.
Full details can be found in the CSL brochure in French or in German.
Students and pupils will find everything they need to know in the OGBL brochure in English, and more details about apprenticeship in the CSL brochure in French or in Luxembourgish (page 37).
All possible contracts for teenagers and young employees can be found in the CSL publication in German or in French.
There are also temporary work contracts. Temporary workers receive an employment contract, the mandatory information of which is based on the fixed-term employment contract. In addition, the contract must include the obligatory information from the so-called secondment contract with the user company (for replacements, the name of the absent person, the duration of the mission, the particulars of the position to be filled, the required professional qualification, the place of work, the normal working hours, the amount of the salary, the reason for the mission). If the contract is concluded for a fixed term (max. 12 months, except for seasonal employment contracts or for highly specialized persons), the expiry date must be fixed. If not, the minimum duration for which it was concluded must be fixed. The duration of the trial period may, where appropriate, be between 3 and 8 days. Only one trial period is possible per temporary work contract. The contract must also include an extension clause and an indication that the user company can hire the temporary worker after the mission.
If the user company has signed a collective agreement, its provisions also apply to temporary workers.
If a temporary work contract is concluded orally or if the contract does not specify that it was concluded for a fixed term, it is automatically converted into a permanent employment contract.
The OGBL brochure for temporary workers, available in German, French and Portuguese explains all the details.
Family benefits were reformed on August 1, 2016. Only at the level of family allowance itself, there is a difference between children for whom allowances were received before August 1, 2016 and those for which the right to the allowance only started from August 1, 2016.
The children’s bonus has been abolished, while it has been integrated into the various amounts. The family group has also been abolished, so that the same amount is due for each child regardless of the number of children.
As of January 1, 2022 (retroactive to October 1, 2021), the family allowances are again adjusted to the price development (index). However, this only applies to the family allowance itself, not to the other allowances. It should be noted that the family allowance was not affected by the index manipulation and that its amount was increased by 2.5% on 1 July 2022, while the indexation of wages and pensions was postponed to April 1, 2023. With the end of the index manipulation decided by the tripartite, the adjustments of the family allowances will be made at the same time as those of the salaries and pensions, with the obvious exception of the postponed adjustment to April 1, 2023.
The birth allowance consists of three tranches at € 580.03 each:
These two allowances are reserved for the mother, linked to pregnancy and therefore paid to the mother only once each, even in the event of multiple births.
For the postnatal allowance, the child must be subjected until the age of 2 years to 6 medical examinations carried out by either a specialist in pediatrics or in internal medicine, or by a general practitioner.
In families with at least 2 children for which family allowances were paid in July 2016, the total amount including the child bonus has been divided by the number of children in order to obtain a single amount per child. This amount will be preserved until the end of the right to family allowance. The Children’s Future Fund (Caisse pour l’Avenir des Enfants – CAE) has communicated these amounts in writing to the families concerned.
Single children, as well as those for whom the right to the allowance is only acquired from August 1, 2016, are entitled to a monthly family allowance of 292,54 € (ind. 921,40).
Cross-border workers are only entitled, if applicable, to a differential allowance.
The family allowance is granted up to the age of 18 and can be extended, under certain conditions, up to the age of 25.
Age increase
The family allowance is increased by 22,11 € (ind. 921,40) for children over 6 years of age and by 55,19 € (ind. 921,40) for children over 12 years of age.
The back-to-school allowance is paid once a year, in August. It is set at 115 € for a child over the age of 6 and 235 € for a child over the age of 12.
This allowance is intended for children suffering from one or more conditions resulting in a permanent deficiency or loss of at least 50 % of their physical or mental capacity compared to a child of the same age without disability. It is set at 200 € and can be paid, like the family allowance, up to the age of 25.
In addition to the annual recreational leave, there are numerous statutory special leaves that enable employees to better reconcile their professional, family and personal obligations (maternity leave, leave for family reasons, accompanying leave, etc.), but also leaves or conditions that go beyond the legal provisions and have been negotiated within the framework of collective agreements.
The right to recreational leave begins after a period of 3 months of uninterrupted work with the same employer. All employees, regardless of their age, are entitled to a statutory annual recreational leave of 26 working days, the week being counted at the rate of 5 working days.
All persons recognized as disabled workers by the Disabled Workers Service are entitled to an additional 6 working days’ leave.
The leave is in principle fixed according to the wishes of the employee. The collective leave must be fixed by mutual agreement between the employer and the staff delegation during the first quarter of the year in question.
Leave not yet taken at the end of the year may be postponed under certain conditions. The number of days off can be substantially increased by collective bargaining agreements.
Please contact the OGBL professional syndicate responsible for your company or sector to find out more.
By the way, the OGBL has also been campaigning for the 6th legal week of leave at the national level for a long time. For OGBL, a first step towards a reduction in working hours is the generalization of the 6th paid leave week, which is why we welcomed the additional day of leave introduced in 2019. The same applies to the number of public holidays.
The law of August 15, 2023 introduces the right of the employee to be absent for reasons of force majeure without having to resort to his or her recreational leave. This extraordinary leave is limited to one day in a twelve-month employment period and can be taken for reasons of force majeure related to urgent family reasons in the event of illness or accident of a family member making the immediate presence of the employee indispensable. The employee must prove the urgent family reason for which the leave is requested by providing the employer with a medical certificate.
Employees are legally entitled to extraordinary leave for personal reasons of:
In many cases, both recreational and extraordinary leave have been increased by collective bargaining agreements.
Please note: Extraordinary leave must be taken at the time of the event.
Upon the birth of a child or the adoption of a child under the age of 16, the father is entitled to 10 days of paternity leave.
The employer must be informed in writing with two months’ notice of the expected dates on which the employee wishes to take the leave. A copy of the medical certificate of the expected date of childbirth or proof of the expected date of reception of the child in case of adoption must be attached.
The leave must be taken within two months of the birth or reception of the child. It may be split if the employer agrees. In principle, leave is determined in accordance with the employee’s wishes, unless the needs of the company conflict with this. If the employee and the employer cannot agree, the leave must be taken in one time and immediately after the birth or reception of the child.
Payment for paternity leave shall be calculated in the same mode as for recreational leave.
Under the law of July 29, 2023, leave for the birth or fostering of an adopted child is now extended to any person recognized as an equivalent second parent under the applicable national legislation, as well as to self-employed persons. This means that same-sex couples can now also benefit from the ten days of leave.
The days of leave are defined by the same law as eighty hours, which can be split, with provision for pro rata in the case of part-time work.
The law prohibits the employment of a pregnant woman or a woman who has recently given birth for eight weeks before and twelve weeks after childbirth. During this period, the National Health Insurance Fund grants maternity leave at the same payment rate as the sick leave benefit on condition that the woman concerned has worked for at least six months in the year preceding the start of the maternity leave.
Conditions
The applicant must:
The limited age of the child for which the second parental leave is requested is fixed at 6 years. If adopted, the age limit is 12 years.
Durations
If all the conditions are met, the employer is obliged to grant full-time parental leave of 6 months, respectively 12 months in the event of multiple births. Part-time or split parental leave is subject to the agreement of the employer and to be defined in a parental leave plan which must be submitted, with the application, to the Children’s Future Fund (CAE).
Part-time or split parental leave is not possible for applicant parents with a total working time of between 10 and 20 hours per week or with an apprenticeship contract.
Part-time parental leave consists of a 50% reduction in working hours and no longer a reduction of 20 hours. The split can be one day a week for 20 months or 4 separate months for a period of 20 months.
Compensation
The compensation is provided by a replacement income, which is subject to social and tax charges, calculated in relation to the contributory income for the 12 months preceding the beginning of parental leave. The lower limit corresponds to the minimum social wage and the upper limit corresponds to 5/3 of the minimum social wage. These amounts correspond to full-time employment contracts and are prorated in the case of part-time employment contracts.
More details can be found in the CSL brochure.
Each employee with a dependent child requiring in the event of serious illness, accident or other compelling health reason the presence of one of his/her parents, can claim leave for family reasons.
A child born within or outside a marriage and an adopted child who requires the physical presence of one of the parents is considered a dependent child.
It is possible to extend the duration with the assent of the Social Security Medical Control.
Leave for family reasons amounts to:
These numbers of days are doubled if the child in question is beneficiary of the additional special allowance.
The days of leave for family reasons taken before 01/01/2018 are deducted from the remaining right of the age group concerned.
The employer must be informed of the absence, the same day by the beneficiary or by an intermediary, either orally or in writing. A medical certificate attesting the duration of the leave beneficiary’s absence must be given to the employer.
All employees are entitled to a leave of five working days per case and per year to accompany a parent in the first degree in an ascending or descending direct line (mother, father, daughter or son) or in the second degree in a collateral line (sister, brother), spouse or partner who suffers from a serious terminal illness.
This leave can be split. In agreement with the employer, it can be taken part-time. The accompanying leave ends on the date of death of the person at the end of life.
The absence relating thereto must be attested by medical certificate and the beneficiary is obliged to inform her/his/her employer at the latest on the first day of her/his absence.
This leave was introduced by the law of August 15, 2023, and provides for five days of leave during a twelve-month employment period to provide personal care or assistance to a family member or a person living in the same household as the employee who requires substantial care or assistance for serious medical reasons that reduce his or her capacity and autonomy, rendering the family member or the aforementioned person incapable of compensating for or coping autonomously with physical, cognitive or psychological impairments or disabilities, or psychological impairments or health-related constraints or needs, and which is certified by a doctor.
Besides the leaves listed above, the Labor Code also provides for other special leaves, such as training leave, linguistic leave …
Please contact the OGBL Information, Advice and Assistance Service for further information.
There are 5 professional chambers in Luxembourg, founded in 1924:
These are institutions under public law whose main mission is to defend the interests of the professional groups they represent (workers and pensioners from the private sector, the State and municipalities, farmers, merchants, artisans). Membership is compulsory and the annual contribution is automatically collected; in the case of employees, from their salary by the employer, who then forwards the contribution to the Chamber.
If laws or Grand-Ducal regulations, that affect one or more of these professional groups, need to be enacted, the government must seek the opinion of the professional chambers concerned. This procedure exists only in Luxembourg and underlines the importance of the chambers.
The professional chambers may also submit unsolicited proposals to the government, which may be forwarded to parliament after examination.
Like the other chambers, the Chamber of Employees (CSL) has above all an advisory role. It issues opinions that affect the interests of employees and pensioners. The content of these opinions is determined by the 60 members of the plenary assembly.
The CSL can also make its own suggestions, for example to amend draft laws.
The election of the CSL also decides on the appointment of employee representatives to the various social security bodies (health insurance – CNS, pension insurance – CNAP, etc.). The CSL plenary assembly appoints too the employees’ assessors to the labor courts and social courts.
Through its economic and socio-political analyses, the CSL supports and consolidates the actions and demands of the trade unions. They offer a scientifically valid alternative to the uniform neo-liberal mush-like statements of employers’ lobby groups, consulting firms and other “experts” and show that a different policy is possible, a policy of social progress in the interest of all employees.
The CSL also analyses the social situation in the country and has, in collaboration with the University of Luxembourg, developed an indicator of the quality of working life that shows how it is developing in the various sectors and thus also provides a basis for measures to improve working conditions.
CSL regularly publishes brochures and newsletters that provide information on empoyees’ rights. The topics are diverse and touch on many areas of labor and social law.
People suffering from stress at work can also obtain free advice from CSL. If you need help or information, you can find details in French or German here.
The CSL is also involved in the organization of vocational training and offers a wide range of training courses for all levels of education. You can find detailed information in French here.
Since the OGBL and the Landesverband hold an absolute majority of the seats in the CSL, 37 out of 60 seats, it significantly influences its decisions and actions.
See more under Social Elections.
Like the other chambers, the Chamber of Civil Servants and Public Employees (CHFEP) has above all an advisory role. It issues opinions on all laws and decrees that affect the interests of civil servants and public employees, whether they are in active service or retired. The content of these opinions is determined by the 27 members of the plenary assembly.
The other missions consist of creating and subsidizing, if necessary, all establishments, institutions, works or services essentially dedicated to the improvement of the social condition of civil servants and public employees, to formulate complaints, to request information and the production of statistical data.
If you have an accident at work or on the way to or from work, you must inform your employer immediately and notify the doctor or hospital that you have had an accident. Where applicable, it is preferable to immediately report any accident to the health and safety delegate that you have had an accident.
The employer must complete and sign the Work/Travel Accident Report and report the accident to the Accident Insurance Association (Association d’assurance accident – AAA).
In order to receive benefits such as a monetary allowance or compensation, the accident must be recognized by the AAA. To be recognized, it must have occurred in the course of the professional activity, during the execution of the work contract, and result in bodily injury and/or damage to the vehicle. The travel accident must have occurred on the employee’s usual or direct route and must not have been caused by gross negligence.
If the accident has been recognized, you may claim, within one year, compensation for damages to motor vehicles, for incidental damages to property (damaged clothing or personal items), for damages to dental crowns, prostheses, orthoses or epitheses. If you are totally unable to work or if the right to sickness benefits expires, you are entitled to the payment of a full annuity. A partial annuity is granted in case of partial incapacity to work with loss of income. If you have to face an external job redeployment, you are entitled to a waiting pension. If you are partially unable to work due to the consequences of the accident (physiological impairment, impairment of well-being, disfigurement or similar), you may under certain conditions apply for a compensation for non-patrimonial damages.
If an employee dies as a result of a recognized accident, his or her legal successors may, within 3 years of the death, apply to the AAA for a survivor’s pension and/or compensation for non-pecuniary damages.
In case of problems with the AAA, please contact the Information, Advice and Assistance Service of the OGBL.
Attention: in case of a decision with which you do not agree, the time limit for opposition is 40 calendar days.
By working time is meant the time during which an employee is at the disposal of his or her employer. The legal working hours are set at 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week.
This duration cannot, in principle, be exceeded. However, the law provides for the possibility of introducing a reference period of up to 4 months and/or a sliding timetable. Since the terms and conditions may vary considerably, please contact one of our agencies.
A break is mandatory after six hours of work. As the law does not speak of a paid break, the payment of the break has been negotiated in many collective agreements by the OGBL.
Overtime can be compensated for by paid time off or, if applicable, by a transfer to a time-savings account (compte épargne-temps) at the rate of 1.5 hours per overtime hour. Employees can be paid a supplement of 40%. Young people under 18 years of age receive a 100% supplement. However, the provision of overtime by young people is permitted only under restrictive conditions and only if the employer cannot use an adult employee.
The law prohibits the employment of employees on Sundays and public holidays; however, there are a few exceptions are allowed. A supplement of 70% is due for work performed on a Sunday by an adult employee; youth under 18 years of age are entitled to a 100% supplement. Working on a public holiday is to be remunerated with a 100% supplement.
In companies where night work (10:00 p.m. – 6:00 a.m.) is customary, a supplement is only due if the company has a collective bargaining agreement. The minimum supplement is then set at 15%.
All the rates listed above may be increased by collective agreement.
Only night work in the HoReCa sector (on-trade sector) is regulated by law. In this case, each hour of night work between 1:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. is increased by 25%, either in free time, or in cash.
The provisions of collective agreements often regulate working hours better than the law requires, please contact the OGBL professional union responsible for your company or sector for more information.
There is currently no legal right to disconnection. In order to protect employees who use communication technologies in the digital age and to achieve a positive balance between private life and work, the OGBL demands the right to not have to be available 24 hours a day. However, certain provisions of the Labor Code can already be used as protective measures. The legal daily and weekly maximum working hours must not be exceeded, daily and weekly rest periods must be respected, and you do not need to be at the disposal of your employer in case of absence due to illness or during leave. In addition, the employer is obliged to guarantee the safety and health (physical and psychological) of his employees.
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