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Paid leave and public holidays: what Luxembourg law guarantees
Twenty-six days of statutory leave and eleven public holidays, plus the special leave few people claim.
Annual leave
Statutory minimum leave is twenty-six working days a year for a full-time post, accrued progressively in the first year and pro-rated where the contract starts or ends mid-year. Many collective agreements and contracts do better, notably in finance and the institutions. Carrying leave into the following year is regulated and time-limited: untaken days do not pile up indefinitely.
Statutory public holidays
Luxembourg has eleven statutory public holidays, including National Day on 23 June and Whit Monday. A holiday falling at the weekend gives entitlement to a replacement day, which is not the case everywhere. Watch the cross-border calendar: Luxembourg holidays do not coincide with those in France, Belgium or Germany, so crèches, schools and public offices on one side close while the other side works.
Special leave
The law provides days for family events — marriage or partnership, a birth, moving house, a death in the family — plus family leave to care for a sick child, with a quota depending on the child's age. On top come paternity leave, sports leave, language leave and leave for social mandates. These entitlements are widely unknown and rarely volunteered by employers.
Counting, and the traps
Leave is counted in working days on a basis that does not match the French notion of jours ouvrés: check the calculation base in your contract before comparing with a previous post. If you fall ill during leave, the days concerned are not lost provided the incapacity is certified in the proper form. On termination, untaken days are paid out.
