Global Compliance Desk – Luxembourg

Introducing One Additional Day Of Annual Paid Leave And One Additional Public Holiday

On March 27, 2019, the bill of law 7399 amending articles L. 232-2 and L. 233-4 of the Labour Code, as well as article 28-1 of the amended law of April 16, 1979, establishing the general status of public servants (hereinafter the “Law”), was passed by the Luxembourg Chamber of Deputies. 

The Law provides that annual paid recreational leave, which is currently set at a minimum of 25 days, will be increased to 26 days and that May 9th will be declared as a new public holiday in Luxembourg. The date of the entry into force of the Law has been set retroactively to January 1, 2019, to avoid any discussion of a possible pro rata application for the year 2019. As a result, the new provisions will be effective in full for the current year.

As regards the introduction of an additional public holiday, the date of the May 9th was chosen as it falls on Europe Day, which commemorates Robert Schuman’s declaration of May 9, 1950, considered to be the founding text of European integration.

Although the 11th day of the public holiday is applicable to all employees, the introduction of an additional day of paid leave will only apply to employees who currently benefit from the minimum number of 25 days of annual paid leave. The explanatory memorandum of the bill of law explains that the Law only increases the number of statutory days of paid leave and does not result in an automatic increase to employees benefitting from more favorable provisions. Thus, employees who had a greater number than 25 days of statutory paid leave per year before the Law came into force, will not be automatically granted an additional day of paid leave under the provisions of the Law.

The introduction of the measures described above will necessarily result in a reduction in the number of annual working hours.