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The pay cycle is a notable feature that provides a sense of accountability for an employee to be paid consistently for their work.

In Luxembourg, the payroll frequency is generally monthly, although some companies pay weekly. Work between the first and last day of the month/week is typically paid on the last day of the month/week

In Luxembourg, it is customary to pay the 13th salary. The 13th salary is the equivalent of one months’ salary and is paid out at the end of the year. It is also common practice for employers to give an additional half months’ salary as well.

Effective from September 1, 2023, the Gross Monthly Salary increases to €3.085,11 from €3.009,88, and the Gross hourly Rate increases to €17,8330 from €17,3982. Index increases from 921.40 to 944.43, resulting in a 2.5% increase in wages, salaries, and pensions.

In Luxembourg, the normal working hours are 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week for a full-time job. The law allows for overtime of up to 2 hours per day and 8 hours per week. The maximum working time cannot exceed 10 hours per day, or 48 hours per week.

There is no specific law in Luxembourg that mandates the number of days for which companies must retain employee data. However, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requires companies to retain personal data only for as long as necessary for the purpose for which it was collected. In practice, most companies in Luxembourg retain employee data for at least 5 years after the employee has left the company.

Article L562-3(2) of the Labour Code requires the full-time employment of at least one disabled person in companies of at least 25 employees if the Employment Administration (ADEM) receives a job application from a disabled person who meets the ability and other requirements of the company.

In companies of at least 50 employees, disabled persons shall represent 2 percent of the employees if the ADEM receives sufficient job applications from disabled persons who meet the abilities and requirements of the company. In the same circumstances, the proportion of disabled workers should be 4 percent in companies employing at least 300 workers.

The non-discrimination legislation is also applicable to applicants and newly hired employees. Thus, it is prohibited to discriminate directly or indirectly against applicants and newly hired employees based on gender, family status, marital situation, religion, convictions, disability, age, sex, sexual orientation, or actual or assumed race or ethnic origin.

Also, according to article L242-3 of the Labour Code, an employer who wants to hire a person from the underrepresented sex can notify or edit employment offers favoring workers from the underrepresented sex. To ensure full equality between men and women, the employer may provide specific advantages aimed at facilitating the pursuit of professional activity by the employees of the underrepresented sex or to prevent or compensate for the disadvantages occurring in the professional careers of these persons. To implement this, the employer must hold a written certificate from the Ministry of Equal Chances recognizing the underrepresentation of the sex that the employer intends to favor.

Article L243-1 of the Labour Code underlines that positive discrimination actions may be implemented to favor persons from the underrepresented sex or to prevent or compensate for disadvantages in their professional careers. These positive discrimination actions may be provided within the frame of the recruitment process (before or after recruitment), as well as within a new work organization, specific training actions, measures related to a change of employment, promotion actions, actions favoring the access of the underrepresented sex to high-responsibility jobs, and measures aiming at a better reconciliation of professional and private life. Such positive actions must fall within the frame of a company’s positive discrimination action project.

Finally, article L241-4(2) of the Labour Code allows the keeping or the passing of specific measures aimed at preventing or compensating disadvantages on the grounds of the person’s family or marital situation to guarantee equal treatment in practice.

Onboarding data for Luxembourg typically includes the following information: 

• Personal information: Name, date of birth, gender, nationality, marital status, address, phone number, email address, etc.
• Employment information
• Bank information: Bank account number, bank name, etc.
• Emergency contact information: Name and contact information of a person to be contacted in case of an emergency.

In addition to the above, Luxembourg employers may also require employees to provide the following information during the onboarding process:

• Copy of passport or other valid travel document
• Copy of work permit or visa (if applicable)
• Medical certificate

Employers may also collect additional information from employees, such as their education and work experience, skills and abilities, and professional qualifications.

The minimum probation period in Luxembourg is two weeks and generally is determined by the employee’s salary and qualification status: 

• Employees with a monthly salary of at least 4,586.12 EUR: 12 months 
• Employees with a vocational skills certificate or equivalent: 6 months 
• Employees without a vocational skills certificate or equivalent: 3 months

The following public holidays are observed in Luxembourg:

• January 1: New Year's Day
• April 10: Easter Monday
• May 1: Labor Day / May Day
• May 9: Europe Day
• May 18: Ascension Day
• May 29: Whit Monday
• June 23: National Day
• August 15: Assumption of Mary
• November 1: All Saints' Day
• December 25: Christmas Day
• December 26: St. Stephen's Day

Employees in Luxembourg are entitled to a minimum of 26 working days of paid annual leave per year. In addition to this statutory minimum, certain employees automatically receive additional leave, including:

Disabled persons or those who have suffered a work accident: 6 additional days of leave

Mining employees: 3 additional days of leave

An employee or apprentice who has not received a continuous rest period of 44 hours per week: 1 additional day for every eight weeks in which the employee doesn't receive the continuous rest.

Employees in Luxembourg are entitled to a maximum of 26 weeks of paid sick leave. Employers are required to pay the employee's full salary until the 77th day of sick leave occurs (whether consecutive or not) over a period of 12 consecutive months. 80% of this pay will be reimbursed by the employers' mutual scheme insurance. From the 77th day, further leave is paid for by Social Security.

Pregnant employees in Luxembourg are entitled to at least 20 weeks of paid maternity leave, beginning eight weeks before the due date (prenatal leave) and continuing for 12 weeks after the birth of the child (postnatal leave). The maternity allowance is paid by the National Healthcare Fund.

If the birth occurs before or after the expected date, the remaining maternity leave is added to the postnatal leave. Maternity leave is extended by four weeks for multiple births or premature births.

At the end of maternity leave, the employee may delay returning to work for one year to take care of her child without being subjected to termination. The employee continues to accrue annual leave while on maternity leave.

The employee is also entitled to a work exemption, without loss of salary, to attend prenatal examinations, in the case where these examinations must take place during working time.

In addition to the statutory maternity leave entitlement, many collective bargaining agreements in Luxembourg provide additional benefits for pregnant employees, such as extended maternity leave, paid parental leave, and flexible working arrangements.

A father in Luxembourg is entitled to 10 days' leave with pay for the birth of a child.

Employees in Luxembourg are entitled to family leave to take care of a child or adopted child under the age of 18 who is suffering from a serious illness or injury. The same duration of leave is also provided in the event of quarantine of the child under the age of 13 for a measure of isolation, eviction, removal, exclusion, or home maintenance for public health reasons, which has been decided or recommended by the competent national or foreign authority, with a view to limit the spread of an epidemic.

The length of leave for family reasons depends on the age of the child and is established as follows:

• 12 days per child if the child is between 0 and less than four years old;
• 18 days per child if the child is aged 4 to less than 13 years old; 
• 5 days per child if the child is over 13 years of age up to the age of 18 and hospitalized. 

Both parents cannot take the leave for family reasons at the same time. 

The duration of the leave for family reasons may be extended for children suffering from an illness or a deficiency. The maximum duration of the extension is limited to a total of 52 weeks for a reference period of 104 weeks, which ends the day before the first day covered by the medical certificate.

Support leave is available to an employee who wants to spend time with or care for a parent, sibling, spouse, or partner who is suffering from a terminal illness. The employee is entitled to 5 working days per case, per year of support leave, which does not have to be taken together.

The support leave ends on the date of the death of the person at the end of their life. Support leave can only be granted to one person over the same period. However, if during this period, two or more employees want to share the support of the person at the end of their life, they can each benefit from part-time support leave, without exceeding the total duration of the leave by 40 hours. The period of support leave shall be assimilated to the period of incapacity for work due to illness or accident.

Parental leave in Luxembourg is dependent on the type of contract and the number of hours worked by the employee. To be eligible, the employee must have been registered with Social Security at the time of the birth/adoption for at least 12 continuous months and work a minimum of 10 hours per week. This leave is unpaid by the employer, but the Children’s Future Fund provides an allowance. The parental leave can be taken only once per child and before the child reaches the age of 6 (12 for an adopted child). The leave can be taken either in full, partially, or split with the other parent and is based on the number of hours in the employee’s contract/collective agreement: 

• For a full-time employee working 40 hours per week- 4–6 months of full-time leave; 8-12 months of part-time leave (50% of regular working hours); 4 periods of 1-month leave within 20 months; 1-2 half days of leave per week within 20 months
• For a part-time employee working at least 20 hours per week- 4-6 months of full-time leave; 8-12 months of part-time leave (50% of regular working hours) 
• For a part-time employee working at least 10 hours per week- 4-6 months of full-time leave Salaried employees- must have worked at least 10 hours per week.

The employer may exceptionally request for the postponement of the second parental leave to a later date under the following conditions:

• Simultaneous request for parental leave
• Specific nature of work
• Demand of the seasonal nature of work if the employee is a senior executive

The postponement of leave shall not be justified in the following cases:

• Serious illness or accident of the child
• Academic or behavioral problems

In the event of postponement of the leave, the employer must propose to the employee within one month of the notification a new date for the leave, which cannot be more than two months after the date of the start of the requested leave.

If the work is of a seasonal nature, the leave may be postponed until after the period of a seasonal nature.

Parental leave cannot be granted twice to the same parent for the same child or children. Parental leave that is not taken by one of the parents is not transferable to the other parent.

The starting parental leave ends on the date of the child's death or when the court stops the adoption procedure request. In this case, the beneficiary returns to their job no later than 1 month after the date of death or the rejection of the adoption request.

In the event of the death of a child, multiple births, or adoption before the extension period of parental leave, the duration of leave is reduced accordingly.

In the event of the death of the mother before the end of the maternity leave or in the event of the death of the parent receiving the first parental leave before it expires, the other parent can take parental leave following the death after having duly informed the employer. The same provision applies to the other parent in the event of the death of the beneficiary parent.

In the event of adoption by two spouses of an elderly child who has not reached the age of 12, the employed parent under an apprenticeship contract or an employment contract shall be entitled to a leave lasting 12 weeks on presentation of a certificate issued by the court according to which the adoption procedure is initiated. If both parents are employed under a contract, they designate the leave by mutual agreement to one of the employees requesting the reception leave.

When the foster leave has been requested and granted to a parent, it shall not be granted by the other parent. If there is only one employed adopter, then the single adopter may benefit from the foster leave, unless the child who has not reached the age of 12 years is not living with the adopter or if it is the child of the employee’s spouse or partner. Labor Code, 2006.

Employees are entitled to paid leave for the following: 

• One day of leave for the death of a second-degree relative of the employee or of their spouse or partner; 
• One day of leave for each parent in the event of the marriage of a child; 
• Two days of leave in the event of a move over a period of three years of employment with the same employer, unless the employee must move for professional reasons; 
• Three days of leave for the death of the spouse or partner or of a first-degree relative of the employee or his or her spouse or partner; 
• Three days of leave for the marriage and one day for the employee’s declaration of partnership; 
• Ten days of leave in the event of fostering a child under the age of 16 with the purpose of adoption, except in the case of an employee benefiting from adoption leave;
• 5 days of leave in the event of the death of a minor child.

With the exception of paternity leave and fostering leave, extraordinary leaves can be taken only when the event occurs for the leave and must be taken consecutively. However, when an extraordinary day of leave falls on a Sunday, a legal public holiday, a non-working day, or a compensatory day of rest, it must be carried over to the first day of the following working week following the event or the end of the extraordinary leave. If the event occurs during a period of annual leave, it is interrupted for the duration of the extraordinary leave.

Employees are entitled to training leave intended to allow employees to participate in courses, prepare exams and participate in them, write dissertations, or perform any other work related to eligible training. Employees, normally employed at a workplace located in Luxembourg territory, may benefit from this leave and are required to have at least 6 months of employment with the same employer. The request for leave must be notified by the employer. 

The leave may be postponed if the absence resulting from the requested leave creates risks of having a major repercussion, which can be detrimental to the operation of the workplace. 

The total duration of training leave may not exceed 80 days for each employee during their career. The maximum number of days of attributable training leave is 22 days over a two-year period. The leave can be divided, the minimum duration of the training leave being one day. 

For employees working part-time, the days of leave for training are calculated proportionally. The duration of the training leave shall not be counted against the annual leave. The total number of days of training leave, which the beneficiary can claim, depends on the number of hours required for the training. This number of hours is either defined by the training organization or determined on the basis of school class schedules at training institutes.

The number of hours invested is converted into the number of working days by dividing the number of hours by 8. The number of days of training leave is obtained by dividing the quotient thus obtained by 3. Employees benefiting from training leave are entitled, for each day of leave, to a compensatory allowance equal to the average daily wage. The compensatory allowance is paid by the employer. The State reimburses the employer the amount of the compensation.

Employees fulfilling the mandate of a member of a professional chamber, member of a body of an institution of social security, an assessor with the Labor Court, assessor-insured, and assessor-employer of the Board of Arbitration Insurance and the Higher Social Insurance Council are entitled to special leave. A Grand Ducal regulation may set the terms and determine the number of working days or parts of working days that are considered under this leave. During this leave, employees who exercise one of these mandates or one of these functions may be absent from their place of work while maintaining their normal salary.

A special leave known as “linguistic leave” is intended to allow employees to participate in language courses. Employees who have worked at least for a duration of 6 months with the same employer shall be entitled to this leave. The total duration of linguistic leave cannot exceed 200 hours. This maximum duration must be divided into two sections: a minimum of 80 hours and a maximum of 120 hours.

The leave can be divided, the minimum duration of the linguistic leave being 30 minutes per day. For employees working part-time, the hours of leave are calculated proportionally. The duration of the linguistic leave cannot be counted against the annual leave.

Employees benefiting from language leave are entitled, for each hour of leave, to a compensatory allowance equal to the average hourly wage. The compensatory allowance is paid by the employer. The State reimburses the employer 50% of the amount of the allowance compensation, and the remaining 50% shall be paid by the employer’s share of social contributions.

Parents of students who are members of the national school board are entitled to 2 half-day leave per month. During this leave, the employee may be absent from the workplace with pay. In the private sector, recipients of leave are entitled, for each half-day of leave, to a compensatory allowance equal to half of the average daily wage. The compensatory allowance is paid by the employer. The State reimburses the employer.

Special leave may be granted to elite athletes, to personnel who are supervising as well as to judges and referees in order to ensure the best representation in international competitions like Olympic Games etc. Leave is supported by the State within the budgetary limits. 

The duration of sports leave depends on whether it is a special preparation model of national executives supported by the State and the said committee members of the cadre of elite athletes or athletes who are preparing for Olympic participation.

Employees who provide volunteer emergency services such as fire and rescue services shall be entitled to leave not exceeding seven working days per year. The total duration of the special leave may not exceed 42 working days for each beneficiary during the employee’s career within the emergency services. The special leave can be divided, and each fraction shall not exceed 4 hours.

The duration of the special leave cannot be counted against the annual leave provided. Unless the employer agrees, special leave cannot be attached to a period of annual leave or sick leave. Employees shall continue to receive their salary during the period of leave. Salaries paid during special leave are payable by the State with regard to voluntary civil protection officers, officials of the National Federation of firefighters, and instructors.

Employees with at least one year of service with the employer shall be entitled to development cooperation leave for the purpose of participating in programs and projects for the benefit of the populations of developing countries, both within the country and abroad. 

The duration of development cooperation leave cannot exceed six days per year and per beneficiary. This leave can be split as needed. 

The duration of the development cooperation leave cannot be counted against the paid annual leave. The fixed or compensatory allowance is equal to the average daily wage, without the payable amount exceeding 400% of the minimum daily social wage for an unskilled employee of at least 18 years old. The employer shall pay the compensation to the employee, which will be reimbursed by the State. 

Employees are entitled to two new forms of special leave and to request flexible working arrangements in order to enjoy a better work-life balance. August 21, 2023, and same-gender couples will be able to take ten days of special leave for the birth of a child, effective from August 22, 2023. 

New types of special leave 

1. Leave for the birth of a child 
2. Flexible working arrangements 

1. New types of special leave 

Two new special leave entitlements are introduced into the Labor Code. 

1. Leave on grounds of force majeure 
2. Carers Leave 

a. Leave on grounds of force majeure: Employees are entitled to take one day of leave (8 hours maximum) in a period of 12 months of full-time employment (40 hours). 

t is for urgent family reasons in the case of illness or accident. 

b. Carers Leave: Employees are entitled to take five days (40 hours maximum) in a period of 12 months of full-time employment. 

It is for personal care or support to a relative for serious medical reasons. 

These rules are applied to civil servants.

2. Leave for the birth of a child: Same-gender couples will be able to take ten days of special leave for the birth of a child. (Divisible into 80 units of one hour) 

For employees who work less than 40 hours per week, work part-time, or have several employers, their number of hours of leave is set pro rata on the basis of the working week in the relevant collective work agreement or employment contract. 

Parents are also entitled to additional days of leave in the event of the birth of multiple children. For example, the father of twins will be entitled to 20 days of leave for the birth of the children.

The statutory notice period depends on the employee's length of service, as follows:

• Less than 5 years of service: 2 months' notice
• 5 to 10 years of service: 4 months' notice
• 10 years of service or more: 6 months' notice

Collective agreements may contain provisions on periods of notice. Suppose the periods of notice laid out in the collective agreement differ from the statutory periods of notice. In that case, the employer and the employee must observe the periods of notice laid down in the collective agreement.

The notice begins on the 15th of the month if the dismissal letter is provided before or on the 1st of the month. Notice begins on the 1st day of the following month if the letter of dismissal was sent between the 15th and the last day of the month.

It is also possible to pay in lieu of notice.

The statutory severance pay is calculated based on the employee's length of service, as follows:

• Less than 5 years of service: No severance pay
• 5 to 10 years of service: 1 month's severance pay
• 10 to 15 years of service: 2 months' severance pay
• 15 to 20 years of service: 3 months' severance pay
• 20 to 25 years of service: 6 months' severance pay
• 25 to 30 years of service: 9 months' severance pay
• 30+ years of service: 12 months' severance pay

EU, EEA, and Swiss citizens do not need a work visa to work in Luxembourg.

Non-EU/EEA/Swiss citizens who want to work in Luxembourg for longer than 90 days need a work visa.

Employers must first declare the vacant position with the National Employment Agency (ADEM). If the position is not filled by an EU/EEA/Swiss national after two months, the employer can then offer the job to a non-EU/EEA/Swiss national.

Highly qualified employees are exempt from the labor market test, but they still need to declare the vacant position with ADEM. They must also have a signed employment contract that is valid for more than one year and can prove they have the qualifications and educational background required for the job.

The salary must be at least 1.5 times the average gross annual salary or 1.2 times the average gross annual salary for certain professions.

To apply for a work visa, the applicant must have a job offer from an employer in Luxembourg.

Here are some additional things to keep in mind:

• The work visa is valid for up to one year, but it can be renewed.
• The applicant must also have a valid passport and health insurance.
• The applicant will need to undergo a medical examination and provide a police clearance certificate.

The application process can take several weeks, so it is important to start planning early.

The law in Luxembourg does not specifically prohibit background checks on job applicants. However, background checks must comply with the general principles of privacy, protection of personal data, and discrimination.

This means that employers must:

• Inform applicants of the background checking process and its purposes. 
• Obtain the applicant's consent before conducting a background check. 
• Only collect and process personal data that is relevant to the job position and necessary for the purpose of the background check. 
• Store and use personal data in a secure manner. 
• Delete personal data when it is no longer needed.