Employers that fail to implement a right-to-disconnect framework will not face automatic fines when sanctions become applicable on 4 July, the Inspection du travail et des mines has told Paperjam.
The Labour Inspectorate said penalties would be used only after a graduated process aimed first at information, dialogue and voluntary compliance. The position comes as employers that have not established the legally required framework face administrative fines of between €251 and €25,000.
“Sanctions are therefore neither immediate nor automatic,” the ITM said in a written response. “In practice, the ITM will first invite the employer to regularize the situation or demonstrate compliance.”
The clarification sets out how the inspectorate intends to apply the new fining power while maintaining the prevention-first approach presented by Minister for Labour 
Warnings before fines
The inspectorate said its role would remain rooted in prevention once the sanctions regime takes effect. Where shortcomings are identified, it said it would follow a graduated approach centred on dialogue and voluntary compliance.
According to the ITM, this could begin with an invitation to regularise the situation or demonstrate compliance, followed by exchanges explaining the legal requirements and encouraging corrective action. Only if compliance is not achieved, or if the circumstances justify it, may the inspectorate issue a formal injunction.
An administrative fine may be imposed only if the employer remains non-compliant after the deadline set in that injunction has expired, the ITM said.
“There is therefore no contradiction between prevention and enforcement,” the inspectorate said. “Prevention remains the guiding principle.”
What the law targets
The inspectorate also drew a distinction between the legal framework employers must establish and individual behaviour outside working hours.
The offence targeted by the sanctions regime is the failure to establish the required framework, not an isolated case of an employee remaining connected outside working hours. The ITM also said it has no power to sanction employees under the right-to-disconnect rules.
Legal commentary by Elvinger Hoss Prussen says the amount of any fine must take into account the circumstances and seriousness of the breach, as well as the behaviour of the employer after the offence has been established.
A delayed sanction
The right to disconnect was formally introduced into Luxembourg’s Labour Code by a law dated 28 June 2023. It requires employers whose staff use digital tools for professional purposes to define a specific regime protecting employees’ right to disconnect outside working hours.
The obligation can be implemented through a collective bargaining agreement or subordinate agreement. In the absence of such an agreement, the framework must be defined at company level, with the involvement of the staff delegation where one exists.
The ITM said the three-year transition period before sanctions became enforceable was intended to give employers time to review their practices and adapt them to the new requirements. It said the framework was “built first and foremost on anticipation, social dialogue and adaptation to the realities of individual workplaces.”
The law does not impose a single model or specific technical solution. Employers can use practical disconnection measures, awareness-raising and training, and procedures covering exceptional derogations.
The inspectorate said sanctions were a subsidiary tool for cases in which an employer persists in failing to meet its obligations despite information, guidance and an opportunity to rectify the situation.
