Verträge und Entlassungen
Angaben im schriftlichen Arbeitsvertrag
An employment contract must be concluded in written form regardless of whether the contract of employment is for fixed term or indefinite term. A written employment contract must be drawn up and signed between the parties before commencement of employment. The employment contract must be drawn up in two originals, one copy for each party.
A contract of employment must state the following information: identity of the parties; date of commencement of employment; workplace; job description; duration of work (working hours per day or per week); work schedules; remuneration; duration of the paid leave periods; duration of the notice period; duration of the probationary period, if any; reference to the applicable collective bargaining agreement; and reference to the extra-legal pension scheme, if any. Certain provisions must be expressly provided in writing to be enforceable like probationary period and non-compete provisions. Certain additional provisions have to be added for fixed term contracts. A fixed term contract must have the following additional information: ground for entering into fixed term contract; expiry date of a fixed term contract; minimum employment duration when expiry date is not clearly provided; name of the absent employee if fixed term contract is signed for temporary replacement of an absent employee; duration of any probationary period; and any renewal clause.
An employment contract must be validly concluded in any language that is understood by both contracting parties. An essential element of the validity of an employment contract is the consent of the obligated party to enter into a contract. If an employment contract is concluded in a language unknown to employee, such contract may be declared invalid on the basis of lack of consent. Thus, an employment contract may be concluded in any of the official languages (French, German or Luxembourg) or any other language understood by both parties (usually English).
Although the Labour Code requires a written contract, a verbal agreement is not void and an employee may establish the existence of a verbal agreement by all means of evidence. If either of the parties refuses to sign a written contract, other party may terminate the employment contract without any notice or payment of compensation within 30 days of the effective date of such contract. However, such termination should not occur during the first three days of the submission of request to sign a written contract.
sources: §121-4, 122-2 of Labour Code 2006; §1109 of Civil Code 1803, last amended in 2014
Befristete Beschäftigung
An employment contract may be concluded for a fixed term or indefinite term. There must be objective and material reasons for signing a fixed term contract. If it is not clearly specified that employment contract is for a fixed term, it is deemed to be a contract of indefinite term. A fixed term contract worker should not be engaged for the permanent tasks of an enterprise. A fixed term contract can be used to replace temporary absent employees (on some type of leave); to meet the seasonal, temporary or urgent increase in the work load; to hire categories of unemployed persons registered with Agence pour le Développement de l’Emploi; and employment intended to promote hiring of certain categories of workers or to engage in training.
A fixed term contract may be renewed twice however some categories of workers (teachers, artists, performers and athletes) are not subject to restrictions on renewals of fixed term contracts. The maximum length of a fixed term contract including renewals cannot exceed 24 months in duration. Fixed term contract for seasonal work cannot exceed 10 months in a 12 month period. In limited situations, maximum length of a fixed term contract including renewals is 60 months.
Sources: §122 of Labour Code 2006
Probezeit
A fixed term employment contract or contract of indefinite term may provide for probationary or trial period clause. The purpose of trial period is to help an employer assess the professional skills of a newly hired employee for the tasks entrusted to him and enabling an employee to determine whether the job suits him and meets his expectations. The parties may agree on not having a probationary clause in the employment contract. The probation/trial period clause must be clearly spelled out in the employment contract and before the commencement of employment.
In general, trial period cannot be less than two weeks nor more than six months. The general maximum length of trial period for an indefinite term contract is 06 months. There are however certain exceptions. The probationary period is 3 months for employees whose education level is less than “certificat d’aptitude technique et professionnelle de l’enseignement secondaire technique” (CATP). The probationary period, on the other hand, is 12 months if the initial gross monthly wage is greater than a certain amount, determined by a decree (€4,154.91). The probation cannot be extended or renewed. However, if the trial period was suspended because of illness or family leave of an employee, the trial period is extended for the duration of such suspension however the total length of extension in this case cannot exceed one month.
sources: §121-5 of Labour Code 2006
Vorschriften zu Beschäftigungsbedingungen
- Loi du 19 décembre 2014 relative à la mise en œuvre du paquet d’avenir
