Temporary work agencies – temporary workers

Period of validity of the Collective Agreement

Valid from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2016 and tacitly renewed on an annual basis (Article 15.2)

Personal and material scope

Material scope (Article 2)

Applicable to all Luxembourgish or foreign temporary work agencies operating in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

Personal scope (Article 2)

Applicable to temporary workers operating in the territory of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. It also applies to temporary workers posted abroad.

Remuneration (Article 10)

The salary of a temporary worker may not be lower than that to which, after a probationary period, an employee with the same or equivalent qualifications employed under the same conditions as a permanent employee by the user would be entitled. In the absence of a comparable employee, the minimum remuneration is that provided in other companies. (L.131-13 of the Code du Travail [Luxembourg Labour Code]).

Other remuneration items

Statutory public holidays (Article 9)

The law deprives the benefit of remuneration from

• A worker who, through their own fault, did not work the last working day worked in the company preceding the statutory public holiday or the first working day worked in the company after the statutory public holiday
• A worker who was absent without justification for more than 3 days during the period of the 25 working days preceding the public holiday, despite the fact that they may have had valid reasons for their absence

If an assignment contract for a user ends on the working day preceding a statutory public holiday and a new contract is concluded by the same temporary work agency with effect from the next working day, the public holiday shall be payable if the temporary worker works for the same user on the last working day worked for the user before the public holiday and on the first working day worked after that day.

Revalorisations of remuneration (Article 10.4)

The temporary work contractor must be notified of any revalorisations applied during the assignment to the permanent staff of the company and these revalorisations must be made applicable to the temporary worker without delay.

The same applies to:

• Additional overtime
• Night work
• Sunday work
• Work on statutory public holidays and arduous, dangerous and unhealthy work

Working time (Article 11)

The normal working time is set at:

• 8 hours per day and
• 40 hours per week.

Right to leave (Article 9)

Temporary workers benefit exclusively from the statutory public holidays applicable in the country in which the assignment is carried out.

Temporary workers are entitled to annual leave for each assignment irrespective of the duration of the assignment. Their leave will be calculated pro rata with respect to the duration of the assignment.

Termination of contract (Article 13)

At the initiative of the temporary work contractor before the end of the period laid down (not applicable in the case of serious grounds) (Article 13): the temporary worker shall be entitled to compensation equal to the remuneration which they would have received until the end of the contract, but the amount may not exceed the remuneration corresponding to the duration of the notice period which would have to have been observed if the contract had concluded without termination.

At the initiative of the temporary worker (Article 13): the temporary work contractor shall be entitled to compensation corresponding to the loss suffered by them, but that amount may not exceed the remuneration corresponding to the duration of the notice period which the employee would have had to observe if the contract had concluded without termination.

Health, safety and hygiene

General obligations of temporary work agencies (Article 8)

In particular, temporary work agencies must ensure that the work carried out falls within the scope of the professional skills of the temporary workers and does not pose an abnormal risk to their health and safety. The temporary work contractor shall be solely responsible for the payment of the remuneration of the temporary worker and the related social security and tax charges.

General obligations of temporary workers (Article 8)

Temporary workers must report when summoned, notify of medical appointments provided by the health service, bear responsibility for damage caused by them in the event of voluntary acts or acts of gross negligence, and have certain rights identical to those of permanent employees.

Vocational training – Sectoral training fund for temporary work (Article 14.5/Annex 1)

The social partners have set up a sectoral training fund, in particular to finance occupational health and safety training. The arrangements for the operation and financing of this sectoral training fund for temporary work are laid down in Article 14.5 of the Agreement.

Inter-assignment contract (Annex 2)

The social partners have agreed to take all possible steps vis-à-vis the political authorities in order to enable temporary work agencies to provide – outside of temporary assignments – training for temporary workers in accordance with the procedures laid down in the Code du Travail.

Other points (including sector-specific provisions)

Hiring (Article 3)

The assignment contract must be drawn up in writing and sent to the employee no later than 2 working days after being made available.

Without prejudice to Article L.121-4 of the Code du Travail, this contract must include:

• A statement of the reason for using temporary work
• The duration of the assignment
• The specific features of the position to be filled, such as the qualifications required, the location of the assignment and the normal working hours
• An indication of the remuneration received in the user company by an employee with the same or equivalent qualifications employed by them under the same conditions as a permanent worker
• Where the contract is for a specific period of time, the end date of the term
• Where there is no term end date, the minimum duration of the contract
• Where the contact is concluded to replace an absent employee, the name of the absent employee
• The duration of the probationary period, if any
• Where applicable, the assignment renewal clause

Probationary period (Article 4)

The assignment contract may provide for a probationary period, which cannot be renewed within the same contract, and which is also not applicable if the temporary worker is re-employed to perform the same task for the same user.

Duration of the probationary period (during this probationary period, either party may terminate the contract by registered letter (or hand-delivered letter with signature) without prior notice or compensation):

Duration of the assignment (Article 5), renewal and succession of assignments (Articles 6 and 7)

• Maximum duration of the temporary assignment contract: 12 months for the same employee in the same position
• Renewable no more than twice (provided there is a renewal clause)
• Waiting period: on expiry of the assignment contract, a new contract may not be used until the end of a period equal to 1/3 of the duration of the contract, including renewal. This period is compulsory only in a few cases listed in the Code (L.131-11 of the Code du Travail).