Banks

Period of validity of the Collective Agreement

Applicable from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2023. (Article 3)

Personal and material scope

This Agreement shall govern the relationships and general working conditions between members of the Luxembourg Banker’s Association and their employees working permanently in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, with the exception of:

• Employees belonging to senior management referred to in Article L.162-8 of the Code du Travail [Luxembourg Labour Code] and provided for in the Collective Agreement
• Persons on an apprenticeship contract whose status is governed by Title 1 of Book 1 of the Code du Travail.

Remuneration

The remuneration system (Article 14)

General provisions

All provisions relating to remuneration shall be applied pro rata with respect to working time.

Basic remuneration

The basic remuneration is the monthly remuneration resulting from applying the scales in this Agreement and the salary increases imputed therein.

The loyalty bonus and the training bonus do not form part of the basic remuneration.

The basic remuneration as defined above constitutes the basis for calculating the 13th month and overtime.

The reference payroll budget is calculated on the basis of the remuneration for employees for the month of December of the year in question who are still in service on 1 January of the following year.

The reference payroll budget is the sum of all the basic salaries of the employees covered by this Agreement.

2021

Pay scale

The figures below correspond to the basic monthly remuneration expressed in EUR at index 100.

Each classification group is associated with a guaranteed minimum reference wage for full-time work.

Any increase in the event of a change in group may not be less than EUR 15 (ind.100).

Loyalty bonus for groups A to D

A loyalty bonus to reward the employee’s loyalty to their employer is payable on the basis of length of service. It takes the form of an annual payment calculated on the basis of length of service and as a percentage of basic salary.

 

 It is payable with the remuneration for the month of June to employees who were in service on 15 June and whose contract had not been terminated by that date.

Employees shall be paid pro rata to their working time over a reference period running from 1 June of the previous year to 31 May of the current year.

The maximum amount of this bonus is limited to EUR 755 (index 100). An employee for whom the amount of the 2018 June bonus is higher than the theoretical amount of the loyalty bonus for the current year shall be allocated the highest amount.

For the purposes of calculating the loyalty bonus, a period of parental leave shall be treated as a period of actual work.

2022

Pay scale

The figures below correspond to the basic monthly remuneration expressed in EUR at index 100.

Each classification group is associated with a guaranteed minimum reference wage for full-time work.

Any increase in the event of a change in group may not be less than EUR 15 (ind.100).

Salary increases

On 1 January 2022, an increase in remuneration shall be granted in the form of an overall package of 1.0%. The percentage of the overall package includes the presumption that skills have been acquired.

This increase shall be calculated in relation to the reference payroll budget as defined above. It is broken down as follows:

• 0.7% for each employee to reward the acquisition and development of new technology skills due to the health crisis;
• An overall package of 0.3% aimed at rewarding the acquisition and implementation of skills. The amount of an increase related to the acquisition and implementation of skills may not be less than EUR 5 (index 100).

Loyalty bonus for groups A to D

A loyalty bonus shall be paid in accordance with the provisions laid down in Article 14. B. 3 of this Agreement.

2023

Pay scale

The figures below correspond to the basic monthly remuneration expressed in EUR at index 100.

Each classification group is associated with a guaranteed minimum reference wage for full-time work.

Any increase in the event of a change in group may not be less than EUR 15 (index 100).

Salary increases

On 1 January 2023, an increase in remuneration shall be granted in the form of an overall package of 1.0%. The percentage of the overall package includes the presumption that skills have been acquired.

This increase shall be calculated in relation to the reference payroll budget as defined above. It is broken down as follows:

• 0.5% for each employee to reward the acquisition and development of new technology skills due to the health crisis;
• An overall package of 0.5% aimed at rewarding the acquisition and implementation of skills. The amount of an increase related to the acquisition and implementation of skills may not be less than EUR 5 (index 100).

Loyalty bonus for groups A to D

A loyalty bonus shall be paid in accordance with the provisions laid down in Article 14. B. 3 of this Agreement.

Other remuneration items

‘Thirteenth month’ allowance (Article 15)

• The employee will be entitled, at the end of the year, to a ‘thirteenth month’ allowance, the amount of which is equal to the basic salary plus, where applicable, the length-of-service bonus that the employer owes the employee for the month of December.
• If the employee enters into service during the year, they will receive the thirteenth month allowance at the end of the year on a pro rata basis according to the working months worked since starting.
• If the (probationary, permanent or fixed-term) contract is terminated either by the employee or by the employer, the employee will receive with their last salary the thirteenth month allowance on a pro rata basis according to the working months worked over the year.

Overtime work (Article 18)

Any overtime work is subject to the authorisations and procedures laid down in the bank’s internal and statutory provisions.

Remuneration for overtime

• Normal hourly pay for overtime: The normal hourly wage is obtained by dividing the basic monthly salary as defined in this Agreement, plus the length-of-service increment and one twelfth of the 13th month, by the flat-rate number of 173.
• Revalorisation increase for overtime remuneration: 50%.
• Compensation for work:
  • by payment in cash at a rate of 150%;
  • or by time off at a rate of one and a half hours of free time paid for each hour of overtime worked; these hours may be converted into rest days to be taken the following year;
  • or by a combination of the preceding two solutions;
  • or, in the case of a specific allowance, by applying a time compensation rate of 175%.

This specific allocation is reserved for well-defined cases, the principle and implementing arrangements of which may be changed by the company after informing and consulting the staff delegation. In this case, these are:

• early retirement for employees who have reached the age of 50;
• enrolment in reorientation training.

In the event of working more than 10 hours a day or more than 48 hours a week, within the limits laid down in Article L.211-5 et seq. of the Code du Travail (force majeure or unforeseeable circumstances), the overtime payable shall be paid together with the salary for the following month.

In the case of overtime at the end of the reference period, the hours payable shall be paid with the salary for the month following the calculation.

Working on Sundays, public holidays, and at night

In accordance with the provisions of the Code du Travail. With the exception of:

• bank holidays:
  • Good Friday,
  • the afternoon of Christmas Eve.
• Night work (from 22.00 to 6.00): revalorisation increase of 30%

Working on Saturdays

Where, for reasons of work organisation, a bank employee is called upon by their supervisor to work on a Saturday, those hours shall be multiplied by 1.25 to determine the number of hours to be taken into account when calculating working hours.

If applying the coefficient of 1.25 results in the number of hours worked exceeding either 10 hours per day, 48 hours per week or an average of 40 hours per week at the end of the reference period, the excess hours shall be classed as overtime.

However, this arrangement excludes those employees whose work on Saturdays is contractually part of the normal and regular organisation of their work during a 40-hour week spread over 5 working days. Nonetheless, rights legally acquired by the time of entry into force of this Agreement shall not be affected.

Employees who are called upon to work on Saturdays occasionally, in particular in order to deal with exceptional extra work, these hours being in addition to their normal working hours and for which compensation in kind is not possible, shall be paid as soon as possible, i.e. at the latest together with the pay for the month following the month in which the Saturday work was carried out, together with the revalorisation increases for overtime (100% + 50%) except for the coefficient of 1.25.

It should be understood that entitlement to this provision applies only when the Saturday work is in response to an express request from the employer.

Skeleton staff on duty (Article 19)

Any employee obliged to remain at the company’s disposal outside normal daily hours will be entitled to compensation as provided for in the company’s internal regulations and/or in their individual employment contract.

Remote working (Article 38)

In accordance with Article 8, the employer undertakes, where remote working is regular, to compensate for costs directly incurred as a result of remote working at a minimum rate of EUR 3 (index 100) per month.

Working time

Working hours (Article 16)

• Principle: 8 hours/day and 40 hours/week spread over 5 days/week
• Exception: the spread may be over 6 days/week.
• Where the weekly hours are spread over 5 days or fewer, the contractual working time may be extended by mutual agreement up to 9 hours per day provided that the total working time does not exceed the normal weekly working time in force in the company.
• Working hours shall be set after consultation with the staff delegation.

Organisation of working time (Article 17)

Any employer may establish

• either a Work Organisation Plan
• or a flexitime system in accordance with the legal provisions.

The reference period may be up to 4 months.

The decision on the establishment of flexitime and its periodicity, content and arrangements, including amendments, shall be taken by mutual agreement between the employer and the staff delegation or, failing that, the employees concerned.

A transition period from previous flexitime arrangements may be negotiated internally with a maximum time limit of 6 months.

For statutory reference periods whose duration is less than or equal to 1 month, internal regulations on flexitime may determine a number of excess working hours which may be carried over to the next reference period.

Compensation shall in principle be taken according to the employee’s wishes unless service needs and the justified wishes of other employees in the company preclude it. Any refusal must be duly justified to the employee.

The number of debit hours that can be carried over to the next reference period and the associated procedure are to be determined by the internal regulations on flexitime.

Time debits are offset against rest days.

Procedures for authorising and monitoring hours worked under this system by supervisors are also to be established by the employer.

Agreement on time-savings accounts (TSA) (Article 37)

At the request of staff delegations, banks are required to enter into negotiations within 30 days on the establishment of a time-savings account (TSA) allowing employees to save hours in agreement with their employer, within statutory and contractual limits, in order to take leave at a later date.

Staff delegations must attach a draft agreement to their request on the points to be negotiated.

If the employer refuses to enter into negotiations, staff delegations may refer the matter to the Joint Committee.

The TSA must comply with the general principles laid down in Article L.235-1 et seq. of the Code du Travail.

Right to leave

Annual leave (Article 20)

Duration of annual leave:

• 26 days for employees under the age of 45.
• 27 days for employees aged between 45 and 49 (application: anniversary year).
• 28.5 days for employees aged between 50 and 54 (application: anniversary year).
• 29.5 days for employees aged 55 and over (application: anniversary year).

Leave may be taken in full days and half days (i.e. 4 hours). The arrangements are to be determined within each company.

If, for essential service reasons, granted leave has to be postponed, the employer will bear the cost of the change to the employee.

An employee who changes employer in the course of a month and who thereby loses the equivalent leave for that month shall be granted leave by the new employer, provided that both employers are bound by this Agreement. A period of parental leave shall be treated as a period of actual work conferring entitlement to annual leave.

Rest days (Article 21)

Employees are entitled to 8.5 rest days per year.
Implementing arrangements:

• For reasons of service organisation, rest days may be set collectively for the whole sector on the advice of the Joint Committee set up by Article 9 of this Agreement.
• In this case, they will be determined when the calendar of public holidays is drawn up. Employees on duty on that date will benefit from that collective rest day.
• Where, because of service needs, certain employees will not be able to take advantage of these free days on the scheduled date, they will be entitled to the compensatory number of rest days.
• Any rest days taken individually by employees are to be taken during periods of low activity.
• Rest days are to be counted against any statutory reduction in working hours.
• Additionally, the arrangements for rest days are those laid down for leave days.
• One or more rest days may be set collectively for the company or for units of the company, after consulting the staff delegation. Employees must be notified of leave days set collectively by the company within the first quarter of the year at the latest.

Extraordinary leave (Article 22)

Extraordinary leave must be taken in conjunction with the event giving entitlement thereto, and at the latest within the same week as the event. The employee will be entitled to the full amount of extraordinary leave, regardless of the number of months in the year they have worked.

Trade union leave (Article 23)

Paid leave for trade union needs and trade union training will be agreed, if necessary, between the staff delegation and management for members of the staff delegation, in accordance with the provisions of Article 31. III. 6 of this Agreement.

Social leave (Article 24)

Each employee is entitled to at least 5 days of social leave per year. Companies are free to raise this minimum threshold. The arrangements for this social leave shall be defined within each company between the staff delegation and the employer before 31 December 2021.

Termination of contract

Termination of contract (Article 6)

Termination of contract must comply with the provisions of Article L.124-1 et seq. of the Code du Travail.

An employer who has definitively terminated the employment contract shall inform the staff delegation without delay.

In the event of streamlining, reorganisation or cessation of operations, notice periods shall be extended to employees as follows:

 

The severance pay provided for in Article L.124-7 of the Code du Travail will in this case be as follows:

In order to facilitate the search for a new job, an employee who is notified of dismissal on economic grounds is entitled, on their request, to outplacement assistance or a training budget in order to maintain their employability. Outplacement assistance must be with an establishment specialised in this area. The employee’s request must be made no later than 1 month following any notification of the reasons for dismissal on economic grounds. The arrangements and criteria must be established between the employer and the representatives of the staff of the company in question.

If there are no staff representatives, the arrangements and criteria must be laid down between the employer and the employee in question. The employees in question shall be offered advice from the trade unions which are signatories to this Agreement. For employees affected by a redundancy plan, outplacement assistance will be negotiated as part of that redundancy plan.

Prior interview (derogation from ordinary law)

• The prior interview procedure will apply to any employer regularly employing at least 100 employees.
• The day of the prior interview may be set no earlier than the fourth working day worked following that on which the registered letter is sent or given against receipt. This derogation in favour of the employees in question cannot invalidate any other provision relating to the termination of employment contracts nor, in particular, the provisions of Article L.121-6(4) of the Code du Travail, which stipulate that the submission of the certificate of incapacity for work after receipt of the letter of invitation to a prior interview does not in any way affect the validity of the dismissal procedure initiated.

Other points (including sector-specific provisions)

Hiring (Article 4)

In addition to the provisions of the Code du Travail, and in particular Article L.121-4(2), the following information must be specified:

• Their function group
• The escape clauses or additional clauses agreed by the parties

The basic remuneration of employees who change employer within the banking sector remains payable to the employee if the position is equivalent.

Upon joining the company, any person hired:

• receives a copy of the Collective Agreement in force (either in electronic or paper form),
• is informed of their rights and duties,
• is informed of the operation of the staff delegation, in principle by that delegation.

The President of the staff delegation will receive within 8 days a list of persons recruited, indicating the services to which they are assigned and the type of employment contract.

Probationary period (Article 5)

The probationary period complies with the provisions of Articles L.121-5 and L.122-11 of the Code du Travail.

Function groups (Article 13)

From 1 January 2020, the employer has implemented a new job classification method for staff covered by the Agreement according to 5 assessment criteria broken down into 4 groups (A, B, C, D).

Five classification criteria

Knowledge

This criterion measures command of the information, principles, skills and knowledge required for the job. This includes, in particular, academic training, required professional experience and technical knowledge, including language skills.

• Level 1
  • No academic training
  • And/or no prior experience
• Level 2
  • Academic training (example: 2 years of further education after completing secondary education)
  • And/or initial required professional experience (e.g. up to 2 years)
• Level 3
  • Higher academic training (example: Bachelor’s degree)
  • And/or significant professional experience (e.g. up to 5 years)
• Level 4
  • Higher academic training (example: Master’s degree)
  • And/or proven professional experience (e.g. at least 5 years)

Complexity

This criterion measures the variety and complexity of the tasks, steps, processes or methods required to carry out the work. This includes, in particular, the need to identify, analyse and provide solutions in the execution of tasks.

• Level 1
  • Standardised and homogeneous tasks
  • Limited problem analysis capability
• Level 2
  • Varied tasks but in a limited field of activity
  • Analytical capability and proactivity required to assess solutions
• Level 3
  • Varied tasks in a variety of fields of activity
  • Critical skills required to analyse problems and recommend solutions
• Level 4
  • Varied and complex tasks
  • In-depth analysis and search for continuous improvement requiring the assessment of unfamiliar problems

Impact

This criterion measures the impact of the work on the performance of the service/department/business line.
This includes, in particular, the capability for judgement needed for decision-making and the added value provided.

• Level 1
  • Limited impact on service performance
  • Limited impact in the decision-making process
• Level 2
  • Direct but limited impact on service performance
  • Involvement in the decision-making process in an advisory capacity
• Level 3
  • Direct impact on service performance
  • Participation in the decision-making process (recommendations expected)
• Level 4
  • Direct impact on the performance of the service/department/business line
  • Active participation in the decision-making process

Human contact

This criterion measures the level, nature, variety and complexity of the human relationships associated with carrying out the function.

• Level 1
  • Collaboration with similar functions in the same service
  • Exchange of information only
  • Little interaction with internal or external clients
• Level 2
  • Interaction with a limited number of services and internal contact with employees of the same level
  • Exchange of information mainly, reasoning
  • Adapting behaviour to different internal/external contacts and to situations
• Level 3
  • Interaction with multiple services and contacts at various levels on more complex topics
  • Reasoning
  • View of work oriented towards a solution for internal/external clients
• Level 4
  • Interaction with many services on complex and unfamiliar topics
  • Negotiation, ability to influence and persuasiveness
  • In-depth knowledge of the needs of internal/external clients and/or network building

Team management, coordination and expertise

This criterion measures the ability to manage and/or supervise teams/projects as well as the degree of specific expertise required by the function. This includes, in particular, the ability to anticipate major or strategic developments and the ability to motivate and encourage staff to engage.

• Level 1
  • Functional supervision (e.g. leave management/planning) of a small group of people (e.g. 1 to 3)
  • Or coordination of homogeneous resources in the context of projects/tasks with a short-term perspective
  • Or provides their expertise by answering questions from others in their field of activity in order to solve their technical problems
• Level 2
  • Organisational functional supervision (e.g. assignment of tasks) of a limited number of persons (e.g. > 3)
  • Or coordination of heterogeneous resources in the context of projects/tasks with a short-term perspective
  • Or is recognised as a reference person in their field with application of their knowledge to problems or projects outside their field of activity. Acts as an advisor
• Level 3
  • Direct supervision of a moderate number of people (e.g. < 5)
  • Or coordination of heterogeneous resources in the context of complex projects/tasks with a medium-term perspective
  • Or demonstrates the ability to understand the implications of activities carried out and anticipate important developments in their field of expertise (keeping up to date)
• Level 4
  • Direct supervision of a larger number of people (e.g. > 5) and/or coach role
  • Or coordination of heterogeneous resources in the context of strategic projects with a long-term perspective
  • Or demonstrates the ability to understand the implications of activities carried out and important/strategic developments in their field of expertise.

Job classification

Each function is classified according to 5 assessment criteria.
Each criterion is broken down into 4 levels with corresponding points; only the sum of the points for the 5 assessment criteria will determine classification into one of the 4 groups.
Each function is then placed in a group defined according to command of the expected roles and responsibilities.

Each employee fits into one of the four function groups.

• Group A: 4-7 points
• Group B: 8-11 points
• Group C: 12-15 points
• Group D: ≥ 16 points

The creation of any new function within the company will be communicated to the staff delegation and it will be classified into the respective function groups in consultation with the staff delegation. Progression will be achieved by acquiring and implementing skills, either by developing the level of command of the function or by moving towards new roles and responsibilities.

This progression will be reviewed during the annual performance assessment process, the practical arrangements for which are determined internally by each institution in consultation with the staff delegation.

The various function descriptions will be reviewed in consultation with the staff delegation with reviews being carried out as often as is defined within the company.

Employees joining the financial sector benefit from a presumed acquisition of skills over the first 8 years of their career, at a minimum rate of 1% per year up to the threshold per group. The percentage of the overall package includes this presumption that skills have been acquired, with the exception of 2021.