Bus drivers and auxiliary employees of private bus undertakings

Term of validity of the Collective Bargaining Agreement

Applicable from 1 January 2024 to 30 January 2023 and expires after 36 months (Article 37).

Scope in terms of staff and facilities

Scope in terms of facilities (Article 2)

All undertakings engaged in the professional carriage of passengers by road that have their registered office or an establishment situated within the territory of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

Scope in terms of staff (Article 2)

All following persons employed in the undertakings:

• bus/coach drivers who hold a category D or D1 driving licence and, where applicable, who hold an initial qualification, as provided for in Directive 2003/59/EC as amended,
• drivers who hold a category B driving licence, with the exception of drivers of vehicles with a taximeter,
• office-based technical staff.

This collective agreement does not apply to staff solely performing administrative duties.  

This agreement shall apply to full-time and part-time staff. Certain provisions of the agreement may be excluded from the employment contracts of part-time staff or for casual workers.

Remuneration

Payment of salaries (Article 7.3)

Salaries shall be paid at the end of each month. Bonuses and additional payments for official holidays, Sundays and night work shall be paid with the basic salary for the month following that in which the services giving entitlement to those additional payments were provided.

Complaints (Article 7.4)

An employee who identifies an error in the amount paid as salary may request a correction. This correction must be made by the employer without delay.

If an employee identifies an error on their payslip that does not affect the amount actually paid, they should report it to the employer. The correction of the payslip will be made no later than when the salary slip for the following month is issued.

Any amount unduly received by the employee will be subject to adjustment within the month following the identification of the discrepancy.

Paid working time (Article 19)

• In principle: 8 hours per day for 5 days per week.
• Application of Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 of 15 March 2006 on the harmonisation of certain social legislation relating to road transport and, in particular, of Article 8(6) thereof

Calculation of daily working time (Article 19.3)

Spreadover premium (Article 18.6)

This premium shall not be taken into account for the calculation of additional payments for overtime, Sunday work, official holidays and night work

 

Sunday work, work on official holidays and night work (Article 8)

 

Overtime (Article 20)

The following shall be considered overtime

Other elements of remuneration

Meal Vouchers and Travel Expenses (Article 18)

The driver is entitled to a meal voucher for each day worked with a minimum work amplitude of 6 hours. Days of illness or any type of absence do not entitle the employee to a meal voucher.

The value of the voucher is 10.80 euros, of which 2.80 euros will be borne by the employee and deducted from the monthly salary.

The employee receives the meal vouchers at the end of the month for the previous month (N-1), in a dematerialized form as a debit card. In case of loss or destruction of the debit card, the replacement costs will be the responsibility of the employee.

These meal vouchers are non-transferable and valid in Luxembourg.

By exception to the above, in Occasional Service and Tourism Service, if meal expenses are not covered by the client, the employer will provide a meal voucher on the debit card, with an additional 9.50 euros if the driver has an overnight stay at the hotel.  

Working time

Breaks (Article 10)

Interruptions can be divided into periods of at least 15 minutes each

Driving times, breaks and rest periods

Application of Chapter II of Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 of 15 March 2006 on the harmonisation of certain social legislation relating to road transport

(Article 8 of the Regulation)

• A daily rest period may be extended to make a regular weekly rest period or a reduced weekly rest period.
• A driver may have at most three reduced daily rest periods between any two weekly rest periods.
• Any rest taken as compensation for a reduced weekly rest period shall be attached to another rest period of at least 9 hours.
• Where a driver chooses to do this, daily rest periods and reduced weekly rest periods away from base may be taken in a vehicle, as long as it has suitable sleeping facilities for each driver and is stationary.

The following shall be considered working time (Article 16)

• Time spent on all transport activities pursuant to Article 3 of Directive 2002/15/EC.
• Periods during which mobile workers cannot freely dispose of their time and are required to be at their post, ready to return to normal work, performing certain tasks associated with the service, in particular waiting periods for loading or unloading as listed in Article 16 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

The following are excluded from working time: Break times of 30 minutes or more, rest times referred to by Regulation (EC) 561/2006 or other national regulatory provisions, as well as periods of availability as detailed in the collective agreement.

Work plan (Article 16.2)

A reference period of 4 months is set, starting from January 1st.

The 3 annual reference periods are therefore set as follows:

• January 1st – April 30th
• May 1st – August 31st
• September 1st – December 31st

The employer must establish work schedules and communicate them to the employees in a timely manner. Modifications are allowed, provided that the employer informs the employees in advance.

4 days of leave are granted as compensation for the 4-month reference period and for any shorter reference period.

Overtime (Articles 16 and 19)

Any work performed beyond the monthly limits of normal working hours determined by law or the terms of the employment contract is considered overtime.

If the working time specified in the employment contract is exceeded, these hours may be compensated with time off within the ongoing 4-month reference period or paid as overtime in accordance with the provisions of Article 16.2 and the labor code, unless this collective agreement explicitly deviates from it.

However, in the cases outlined in the articles of this agreement governing the work schedule, only work done outside the conditions and beyond the limits set by these articles should be considered additional work.

As part of each work schedule and within the limits of maximum working hours, any hours worked exceeding 10% of the normal monthly working hours defined in the employee's employment contract are to be considered overtime and paid in the following month.

Maximum Weekly Working Hours (Article 24)

• For employees transporting more than 9 people, including the driver: the maximum weekly working time is limited to 48 hours on average, calculated over the 4-month reference period. The weekly working time, taken in isolation, may not exceed 60 hours.
  The reference period may be shortened at the company’s discretion, with the staff delegation being consulted, without exceeding the limits of 48 and 60 hours of weekly working time, respectively.
• For employees transporting a maximum of 9 people, including the driver: the maximum weekly working time is limited to 48 hours.  

Record of working time (Article 16.3)

The undertaking shall keep a record of working time which shall include:

• all activities of employees,
• non-mobile activities which are not activities related to the carriage of passengers by road,
• all mobile activities carried out on vehicles constructed or permanently fitted out to enable the transport of no more than nine persons, including the driver.

All information and evidence thereof must be kept for at least 2 years after the period has elapsed.
The employer is required to provide the employee with a copy of these documents on request.
Staff delegations have the right to be informed and to give their opinion regarding the orders and missions included in working hours. In the event of disagreement, an appeal to the joint committee is provided for in the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Calculation of working time (Article 16.4)

• A full-time employee shall not be authorised to enter into a second employment contract unless expressly authorised by their employer.
• Where the employee works for more than one employer, the working time must be added together.
• Employees must inform their employer whenever they provide transport services, which are subject to EU or national social regulations, outside of their employment.
• A part-time employee shall be required to inform their employer as soon as they enter into a second employment contract. In the absence of an agreement between the employers, the employee shall be required to notify each employer of the working time completed on behalf of the employer on a monthly basis.

Start of service (Article 16.5)

• Drivers are obliged to start work at least 15 minutes before the scheduled departure time and to respect their working time obligations. These 15 minutes shall count as working time.
• Time spent changing clothes and washing shall not count as working time.

Working Hours and Reference Period for Sedentary Technical Staff (Article 32)

Principle:

• 40 hours per week
• Maximum 10 hours per day

The duration of the reference period and overtime are set in accordance with the Labor Code.

Compensation for Non-Compliance with Weekly Rest for Sedentary Technical Staff (Article 33)

For each full period of 8 weeks, consecutive or not, during which the uninterrupted weekly rest of 45 hours (including leave or sick leave) is not granted, an additional day of leave is owed (up to a maximum of 6 additional days of leave per year).

Entitlement to leave

Leave (Article 9)

• 26 working days in accordance with ordinary law
• Leave may not be granted to the driver during international travel or excursions

Additional leave (Article 9.2)

• Principle: 26 legal days of leave.
• After 25 years of service: leave is increased by 2 days starting from the following calendar year.

Contract termination

The provisions of ordinary law shall apply (in particular Article L124-1 et seq. of the Labour Code).

Health, safety and hygiene

Obligations of the employee (Article 5)

• No driver may start work or perform their duties under the influence of psychoactive substances or under the influence of alcohol; there shall be zero tolerance of such behaviour.
  Drivers are prohibited from wearing earphones while the means of transport is in motion.

Work clothing and personal protective equipment (Article 14)

• The personal protective equipment specified in the statutory accident prevention requirements shall be made available to employees free of charge.
• Employees shall be obliged to use this equipment in all circumstances specified by law and by the internal regulations of the undertaking or customers. Employees shall be personally liable for damage caused to their own person or to third parties if this equipment is not used.
• Where the company requires the wearing of a uniform or work clothes, they shall be made available to employees free of charge.
• In the event of premature loss or wear of such work or personal protective clothing due to misuse or abnormal use or manifest lack of maintenance, the employer may require the employee to make a financial contribution to provide for their replacement or repair.

Other elements (including sector-specific provisions)

Driving licences (Article 15)

Employees for whom holding a driving licence is an essential condition of their employment contract must inform their employer without delay of any restriction, withdrawal or expiry of their licence.

In the event of a loss of at least four points for offences attributable to the undertaking, the costs and hours of work required to participate in the training course allowing the points to be recovered shall be borne by the undertaking.

Initial qualification and continuing vocational training (Article 28)

Training obligations or exemptions are established in Article 28 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.