ILLN - Paid Holidays And Other Paid Leave In Luxembourg

Legal Basis

Paid leave in Luxembourg is mainly regulated by the Labour Code (Code du Travail) in articles L.233-1 et seq., under the name "paid recreational leave" and complemented by Grand-Ducal regulations and collective bargaining agreements.

Statutory entitlement

Every employee working on a full-time basis is entitled to at least 26 working days of paid annual leave per year to rest and compensate for work-related fatigue. Collective bargaining agreements or company policies may grant additional leave. Certain categories of workers benefit from additional holidays (e.g. disabled workers, victims of occupational accidents, workers in the mining industry, workers with less than 44 hours of continuous rest period per week, etc.).

Accrual and use

Annual leave accrues monthly and must be taken in kind during the calendar year. It may exceptionally be postponed to the following year (until 31^st March or later under certain circumstances) notably when the employee is in their first year of service, when business needs or colleagues' leave schedules prevent its use, or when the employee is on maternity, parental, or sick leave. Financial compensation only applies if the employment ends during the civil year, in which case employees are entitled to an indemnity for accrued and untaken annual leave in proportion to the months they have worked during the relevant year. During annual leave the employee is not authorized to carry out any paid activity.

Remuneration

Employees receive their full salary during annual leave, including all regular salary components.

Public Holidays

There are 11 public holidays in Luxembourg. A compensatory day off is provided if a public holiday falls on a Sunday or on a working day on which the employee would not have worked.

Extraordinary paid leave

Other types of leave are available for extraordinary events in an employee's private life and must be taken at the time of the event. For example:

• 10 days for employees who are the second parent in the case of the birth of a child;
• 10 days for the parent who does not take welcome leave in the case of adoption of a child under 16;
• 1 day in the case of the death of a second-degree relative of the employee or their spouse/partner;
• 1 day in the case of a child's marriage;
• 2 days in the case of moving house over a 3-year reference period with the same employer;
• 5 days in the case of the death of a minor child;
• 3 days in the case of the death of the spouse or partner;
• 3 days in the case of the death of a first-degree relative of the employee or their spouse/partner;
• 3 days in the case of marriage;
• 1 day in the case of partnership declaration;
• 5 days of caregiver leave split over 12 months, for a family member or a person living in the household.

Maternity leave

Maternity leave lasts 20 weeks and is divided into two phases: i) 8 weeks of prenatal leave before the expected date of delivery and ii) 12 weeks of postnatal leave after the birth. During maternity leave, the employee's salary is replaced by a maternity allowance paid by the Caisse Nationale de Santé (CNS). During pregnancy and maternity leave, the employee is protected against dismissal.

Parental leave

Is granted to each parent who requests it, due to the birth or adoption of a child, subject to specific conditions, including affiliation with the social security for 12 uninterrupted months. It may take one of the following forms:

• Full-time parental leave of 4 or 6 months.
• Half-time parental leave of 8 or 12 months.
• Parental leave of 20% per week for 20 months.
• Four times one month within a maximum period of 20 months.

Parental leave is divided into two periods: the first parental leave must be taken immediately after maternity leave and the second parental leave must begin before the child's 6th birthday (or 12th birthday in case of adoption). For the same child, one parent must take the first parental leave, and the other parent must take the second parental leave. If the first parental leave is not taken, only one parent may take the second parental leave.

Under certain circumstances and subject to specific procedure the employer may refuse the form of the requested parental leave or ask for its postponement. Special protection against dismissal applies during parental leave.

During parental leave, employees receive a fixed parental leave allowance paid directly by the Caisse pour l'Avenir des Enfants (CAE).

Common challenges

The main challenge is ensuring employees take their annual leave within the calendar year, as many accumulate significant unused days. This leads companies to tolerate the carry-over of annual leave to the next civil year, resulting in a significant balance of untaken leave. Employers are reminded to closely monitor annual leave and actively encourage employees to take their holidays within the calendar year, as this supports workplace health and safety.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.