Work

Steps

1. Register with the ADEM if you are looking for a job while living in Luxembourg; also consult EURES.
2. Check whether your occupation is regulated (health, law, crafts, etc.) and have your qualification recognised if necessary.
3. Read your contract: in writing, with the length of the probationary period, the salary, the working hours and the collective agreement, if any.
4. If you are a cross-border worker, ask your employer to declare your regular remote working to the CCSS (Centre commun de la sécurité sociale) and count your days worked outside Luxembourg.
5. If you lose your job, register with the ADEM (resident, then apply for full unemployment benefit on MyGuichet.lu within 4 weeks of losing the job) or with the body of your country of residence (cross-border worker); for a cross-border worker, your last employer fills in the employment certificate from which the ADEM draws up your U1 form.

Documents

• Identity document, Luxembourg matricule number (13-digit national identification number).
• Qualifications and, if the occupation is regulated, the recognition decision.
• For unemployment: employment certificate filled in by the employer; if you are a cross-border worker, the U1 form that the ADEM draws up from this certificate and that you hand to the body of your country of residence.

Costs and timelines

• Minimum social wage (at 1 June 2026, index 992.24): €16.0192 gross per hour, €2,771.33 gross per month for an unskilled employee aged 18 or over; 120%, that is €19.2231 per hour and €3,325.59 per month, for a skilled employee (art. L. 222-1 of the Labour Code). Amounts adjusted at each indexation.
• Probationary period: 2 weeks at least; at most 3 months (training below the DAP, former CATP), 6 months (DAP or higher), 12 months if the gross monthly salary is equal to or above an indexed threshold (€5,318.41 according to the ITM at index 992.24; Guichet.lu still displays €5,188.69, the former amount). For a fixed-term contract, at most a quarter of the length of the contract. During the first 2 weeks of probation, the employee cannot resign, except for serious misconduct by the employer; for a 2-week probation, the employer cannot terminate either, except for serious misconduct.
• Leave: 26 working days per year at least, whatever the age; the employee can in principle only take leave after 3 months of uninterrupted work with the same employer, and leave for the first year is due at the rate of one twelfth per full month worked (Guichet.lu).
• Working time: normal working time is 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week (Guichet.lu, 2020 page being updated); the maximum is 10 hours per day and 48 hours per week; a collective agreement may set a shorter duration. With a work organisation plan or flexible hours, the employer may set a reference period (in principle 4 weeks or 1 month) in which the average must not exceed 40 hours per week; overtime is paid or compensated.
• Unemployment of a resident: reside in Luxembourg, be aged 16 to 64, be involuntarily unemployed and have had contracts for at least 182 days (that is 26 weeks) during the 12 months before registration with the ADEM, at a rate of at least 16 hours per week; application to be submitted within 4 weeks of the job loss.

Common pitfalls

• Cross-border worker who claims unemployment in Luxembourg: it is the body of your country of residence (France Travail, ONEM, Bundesagentur für Arbeit, etc.) that pays; that country's legislation sets the amount and duration, and the ADEM draws up your U1 form for your periods of employment in Luxembourg.
• Exceeding 34 days of work outside Luxembourg (remote work, assignments, training) if you live in France, Belgium or Germany: beyond that, Luxembourg loses the right to tax the salary for work done outside its territory (all those days, not only those beyond the threshold), and all days worked count, even part-time.
• Remote working and social security: any regular remote working by a non-resident employee must be declared to the CCSS. Between 25% and less than 50% of your working time, the European framework agreement may apply, under conditions: your employer's State and your State of residence are signatories, you work remotely only in your State of residence, you can connect to the employer's IT systems, you are an employee and you have no other activity. Below 25%, or if these conditions are not met, the usual European rules apply and it is your State of residence that determines the applicable legislation (to be checked with the CCSS).
• Probation clause too long: the part that exceeds the legal maximum is void.

What changes by country of origin

• EU, EEA, Switzerland: no work authorisation; for a stay of more than 90 days, arrival declaration then registration declaration at the commune within 3 months of arrival.
• British nationals (Scots included) who arrived after 2020: residence and work authorisation needed, except for rights acquired under the Withdrawal Agreement (to be checked with the Immigration directorate).
• French, Belgian and German cross-border workers: tax threshold of 34 days per year (34 days since 2023 for France, 2022 for Belgium, 2024 for Germany).