'We have to address this question and not bury our heads in the sand', says labour minister

Until now, salaries were among the factors that made Luxembourg appealing to workers, especially in comparison with neighbouring countries.

However, with the European directive on the minimum wage, this advantage is gradually disappearing.

And this raises the question of whether cross-border workers still want to spend several hours in traffic jams every day if other options, particularly a reduction in working hours, are not considered, according to Georges Engel. The Minister of Labour sat down for an interview with our colleagues from RTL Radio on Saturday.

A report on the subject will be presented on Tuesday, which is why the minister did not want to get into specifics. He did, however, admit that the findings are "very ambiguous" in numerous respects and "not as clear as we had hoped." For the same reason, it is unclear what the government should do next.

The report does highlight, however, that care must be taken to ensure that a reduction in working hours really is a reduction in working hours and that people are not forced to cram the work done in eight hours into seven hours or fewer, or that they end up working overtime, Engel explained.

Report on the reduction of working hours: 'Nothing will be embellished'

Before the interview, our colleagues from RTL Radio learned that the minister had first presented the report's main findings to his own party leadership, the Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party (LSAP).

The Democratic Party (DP) and the Green Party (déi Gréng) only received this briefing late Friday morning in the government council.

According to the Ministry of State, who referred to a Grand-Ducal decree from 1857, a minister is in fact not obligated to present this kind of information to the government council first.

Engel denied that this decision raises questions about his impartiality as a minister, arguing that he had merely presented the "broad lines" of the findings to the LSAP parliamentary group last Tuesday. "It was an interim conclusion," Engel said, because the definitive version is still being worked on until Tuesday. "Nothing will be embellished," the Minister assured, stressing that this would not be in his interest. "After all, I need everyone, trade unions and employers, in the same boat to implement this," he noted.

Saying 'not with me' is 'taking the easy way out'

In his last interview with RTL, Xavier Bettel said quite clearly that there will be no 35-hour week with him as the next prime minister, even calling it a "no-go." In its last election programme, the LSAP called for a 38-hour week.

Engel argued that "we have to address this question and not bury our heads in the sand," especially because people in neighbouring countries already work less. In Luxembourg, people work 1,701 hours a year, in Belgium 1,495, i.e., 25 days less than in the Grand Duchy. For Engel, just saying "not with me" is taking the easy way out, "but that's why Xavier Bettel is in the DP and I'm in the LSAP."

Providing assistance to small enterprises

98% of companies in Luxembourg employ fewer than 50 people, with an average of 12 people per company, and, in the eyes of the Minister of Labour, it is these small and medium-sized businesses that are concerned about the reduction of working hours.

According to Engel, one proposal is therefore to financially assist companies that are unable to offer remote work to their employees, such as those in the crafts sector or the hotel and catering industry, "at least in a transitional phase."

Platform work: 'We are not waiting for an EU directive'

The interview also touched on so-called platform work, i.e., services that operate through online platforms.

The best-known example abroad is the taxi service Uber; in Luxembourg, for example, there is the delivery service WeDely. The minister plans to table a law on this topic to the government on 5 May. Engel explained that it was important to him not to create a third category in addition to self-employment and employment.

The bill defines seven criteria, and if three of them are met, one is considered an employee and not self-employed. Engel said that the law was intended to safeguard not just the people who work for these platforms - an estimated 2,500 in the Grand Duchy - but also the businesses that already comply with everything from unfair competition.

'LSAP has experienced a constant upward trend'

Reacting to the latest political poll by Ilres (Sonndesfro), Engel stressed that since the last elections, the LSAP has experienced a constant upward trend. "We see that people trust us and believe that the LSAP needs to be strengthened," the Minister noted, adding that "we are the party that people would like to see in government, and I think that's already a good thing."

When asked if he would run as the LSAP's lead candidate in southern Luxembourg in the upcoming elections, Engel said that he would only do so if Jean Asselborn no longer wants to do it.