Catering

Period of validity of the Collective Agreement

The collective agreement is valid from 1 May 2024 to 30 April 2027.

Personal and material scope

Scope (material) (Article 1)

This sectoral agreement aims to establish uniform regulations governing the working conditions of employees in the catering sector. It applies to all Luxembourgish and foreign companies operating in the catering sector within the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

The term “catering sector” refers to contracted catering, encompassing all activities related to preparing and/or providing meals to individuals working and/or living in communities such as businesses, administrations, schools, nurseries, maisons relais, universities, hospitals, nursing and/or retirement homes, as well as any other public or private body responsible for providing meals to its members (including related ancillary and management services), in the context of a contract, agreement, or tender with the aforementioned clients.

This applies to all Luxembourgish and foreign companies operating in the catering sector within the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

It also applies to all stakeholders in the sector, including not-for-profit associations and any other entity that, even marginally, engages in catering within its area of competence and employs/provides work for staff in this field. The Collective Agreement therefore applies to every company providing catering services in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

Scope (personnel) (Article 1)

The Collective Agreement applies to:

• multi-skilled employees in catering (e.g., catering staff, dishwashers, kitchen helpers, delivery drivers, etc.)
• production employees in catering (e.g., chefs de partie, cooks, pastry chefs, kitchen assistants, etc.)
• service employees in catering (e.g., waiters, maître d’hôtel, head waiters, etc.)
• management and support staff (e.g., operations managers, secretaries, accountants, dieticians, etc.)

This includes individuals under an employment contract, as well as those employed under:

• a reintegration contract (Article L. 523-1 et seq. of the Labour Code)
• an employment initiation contract (Article L. 543-15 et seq. of the Labour Code)
• a work placement integration contract, practical experience

The following are excluded:

• apprentices (Articles L. 111-1 to L. 113-6 of the Labour Code)
• students employed during school holidays (Article L. 151-1 et seq. of the Labour Code)
• trainees (Article L. 152-1 et seq. of the Labour Code)
• senior managers (Article L.  162-8 of the Labour Code) are excluded from the provisions relating to working conditions and salary.

Remuneration

Salary increases (Article 9)

The parties to the collective agreement have agreed on the following linear salary increases:

Free meals (Article 9.1)

The company is required to provide a free meal during the working day to all employees in the catering sector, provided that:

• those employees’ work schedule coincides with the start of the lunch break taken in the restaurant; and
• those employees are employed in a restaurant/kitchen.

This free meal is provided from the employee’s entry into service.

Other remuneration items

Overtime (Article 4.6)

Overtime is paid in accordance with Article L. 211-22 et seq. of the Labour Code.

Or

The employer remains free to determine the timing of the compensatory time off.

Statutory public holidays (Article 4.7)

The following are considered statutory public holidays:

• New Year’s day
• Easter Monday
• May Day
• Europe Day
• Ascension
• Whit Monday
• Luxembourg’s National Day
• Assumption
• All Saints’ Day
• Christmas Day
• Boxing Day (St. Stephen’s Day)

Public holidays off work are paid in accordance with Article L. 232-6 et seq. of the Labour Code.

Work performed between 00:00 and 24:00 is considered work on a statutory public holiday.

Sunday Work (Article 4.8)

Work performed during the period from Sunday 00:00 until Sunday 24:00 is considered Sunday work. Every employee is entitled to at least one (1) Sunday off per month.

Night Work (Article 4.4)

Work performed between 1.00 a.m. and 6.00 a.m. is considered night work.

Work on public holidays

Normal hourly wage + 100%

Work performed between 00:00 and 24:00 is considered work on a statutory public holiday.

Sunday work (Article 4.8)

Work performed during the period from Sunday 00:00 until Sunday 24:00 is considered Sunday work. Every employee is entitled to at least one (1) Sunday off per month.

Night work (Article 4.4)

Work performed between 1.00 a.m. and 6.00 a.m. is considered night work.

Working time

Working hours (Article 4.1)

• 40 hours/week
• 8 hours per day

generally spread over the period from Monday to Sunday.

Maximum: 48 hours/week and 10 hours/day

Reference period (Article 4.2)

Exception (Article 4.3)

The decision to establish an annual reference period is made by mutual agreement between the company and the staff representatives

Right to leave

Duration of paid annual leave (Article 6.1)

26 working days, i.e., 2.16 days per month

The right to leave arises after a continuous period of employment of three (3) months with the company.

In the year of joining the company and the year of leaving, employees are entitled to 1/12th of their annual leave per full month worked.

Fractions of months exceeding fifteen (15) calendar days of a working month are regarded as full months.

Postponement of paid annual leave (Article 6.2)

Leave must be taken without fail by 31 December each year.

Carrying over of leave is governed by Article L. 233-10 of the Labour Code.

Seniority leave (Article 6.3)

Special leave (Article 6.4)

See the list of special leave

Termination of contract

Automatic termination of the employment contract (Article 3.1)

The employment contract terminates automatically in the following cases:

1. on the day the employee is declared unfit for the intended position during the medical examination before recruitment, in accordance with the provisions of Article L. 326-1 of the Labour Code;
2. on the day the employee is awarded an old-age pension, and at the latest at the age of sixty-five, provided he is entitled to an old-age pension;
3. on the day the decision is made to award the employee a disability pension; if the employee continues to work or resumes professional activity in accordance with the legal provisions governing disability pensions, a new employment contract may be concluded;
4. on the day the employee’s entitlement to sickness benefits granted under Article 9, paragraph 1 of the Social Security Code is exhausted;
5. for employees who are unable to perform their most recent job, the day the joint committee notifies them of its decision regarding external professional redeployment;
6. on the day the employee’s status as a disabled worker is withdrawn;
7. on the day the decision to reorient the disabled employee towards the regular labour market is notified to him by the  Occupational Counselling and Redeployment Board (Commission d’orientation et de reclassement professionnel) or by the competent courts.

Termination of the employment contract (Article 3.2)

In principle, either party may terminate the employment contract at any time. Termination of the contract, whether by the employer or by the employee, must be effected by registered letter or by a personally delivered document with a form for acknowledgment of receipt, and in compliance with the following provisions.

Pre-dismissal interview (Article 3.4)

Employers with at least 150 employees must conduct a pre-dismissal interview when considering dismissing an employee, in accordance with the procedures laid down in Article L. 124-2 of the Labour Code.

Termination after the probationary period (Article 3.5)

For an employment contract of indeterminate duration, the following rules apply:

1.  The notice period to be observed by the employer is:
   1.  2 months for less than 5 years of service;
   2.  4 months for between 5 and less than 10 years of service;
   3.  6 months for 10 years of service or more.
2. In addition to the aforementioned notice periods, the employee is entitled to the following severance allowance in accordance with Article L. 124-7 of the Labour Code:
   1.  one month’s salary after at least five years of continuous service;
   2.  two months’ salary after at least ten years of continuous service;
   3.  three months’ salary after at least fifteen years of continuous service;
   4.  six months’ salary after at least twenty years of continuous service;
   5.  nine months’ salary after at least twenty-five years of continuous service;
   6.  twelve months’ salary after at least thirty years of continuous service.

Notice periods begin:

• on the first day of the calendar month following the month in which the termination was notified, if the notification is given after the 14th day of the month;
• The 15th day of the calendar month in which the termination was notified, if the notification is given before that day.

Notification is understood herein as the date of dispatch of the registered letter, as evidenced by the postmark, or the date of personal delivery.

Grounds for dismissal (Article 3.6)

The employment contract will, in principle, only be terminated for valid reasons, or in the event of a breach of contractual and regulatory provisions. Within one month following the written notification of dismissal, the employee may request, by registered letter, the reasons for the dismissal. The employer is required to provide those reasons in writing no later than one month from the date of receipt of the request.

Leave for job search (Article 3.7)

Dismissal without notice (Article 3.8)

 

Pursuant to Article L. 124-10 of the Labour Code, the employment contract may be terminated by either party without notice on one or more serious grounds arising from actions or misconduct of the other party, with damages payable by the party whose misconduct caused the immediate termination.

 

Any action or misconduct that renders the continuation of the employment relationship immediately and definitively impossible is considered a serious ground for the application of the provisions of the preceding paragraph. The employer may, with immediate effect and without further formality, suspend the employee as a precautionary measure, with continued payment of wages, compensation and other benefits until the date of the notification of dismissal. Notification of the immediate termination of both fixed-term contracts and contracts of indeterminate duration on serious grounds must be served by registered letter or personally delivered letter with a form for acknowledgment of receipt.

Other points (including sector-specific provisions)

Business transfer (Article 11)

In the event of a contract transfer, following a tender or a client decision, the obligation to transfer the employment contract applies. The principles governing the transfer are set out in the Collective Agreement.

Provision of a copy of the Collective Agreement (Article 2.3)

All employees will receive a copy of the Collective Agreement from their respective employer upon recruitment. The employment contracts of newly recruited employees contain a clause stipulating this obligation.