Working hours

Let’s get the basics straight: we’re talking here about the typical employment contract in Luxembourg, which is either a fixed-term contract (CDD) or a permanent contract (CDI). In either case, the working hours are agreed between the two parties (you and your employer), bearing in mind that there are a few rules laid down in the Labour Code that must be complied with:

- The maximum working time is 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week;

- If you work overtime, the maximum working time is increased to 10 hours a day, up to a maximum of 48 hours a week;

- In some cases, overtime must be notified by the employer to the Inspection du Travail et des Mines (Labour and Mines Inspectorate, ITM).

Overtime: compensation or pay

Overtime entitles the employee to either time off or additional pay:

- Compensation: overtime is deducted at the rate of 1:30a.m. of rest for each hour of overtime worked;

- Pay: the hours worked are increased by 40% (50% for employees covered by the banking and insurance collective agreement). This additional pay is tax-free and partially exempt from social security contributions.

The case of executives (and fake executives)

Be aware that these rules do not apply to senior management, whose high remuneration is offset by real decision-making power, freedom to manage working hours and independence in managing their work.

These four criteria (high remuneration, decision-making power, freedom to manage working hours and independent management of work) must all be met for you to be considered senior management. If this is not the case, you are a “false executive” and you are leaving money on the table, quite literally. You are entitled to ask to be reinstated on a standard employment contract (and potentially to be covered by the collective agreement for your sector, which is often more advantageous!)

Clocking in and out

On 14 May 2019, the Court of Justice of the European Union that Member States “must impose on employers the obligation to set up an objective, reliable and accessible system for measuring the length of the daily working time performed by each worker”; in practice, this means that employers must set up a system for properly recording and accounting for employees’ working time.

In Luxembourg, requires employers to “record in a special register or file the start, end and duration of the working day” of each employee. While this legal obligation enables Luxembourg to comply with the CJEU ruling, Article L. 211-29 could be adapted to new working methods (teleworking, flexibility, etc.) while avoiding abuses by certain employers who are reluctant to recognise and compensate hours actually worked.

More info

Do you have any questions? The ALEBA teams can help you find your way through the jungle of employment law! Contact them at .