Could Luxembourg have a 52-hour week?

On Thursday, Luxembourg's trade unions announced they no longer intend to participate in the CPTE - Standing Committee on Labour and Employment, citing the government's stubbornness in recent social negotiations as the reason behind their decision.

OGBL president Nora Back called the committee a "farce" and said the unions had been prepared to continue participating prior to the summer holidays, but with the lack of a deal in recent talks, they no longer felt it was necessary.

The current debate raging between unions, employers, and the government hinges on working hours, including contracted working hours and breaks.

"Now, one can work a maximum of 48 hours a week, but they say it's too little, they want to increase it to 52 hours." Here, "they" are the employers. "According to the law employees are entitled to 44 hours of rest a week, that's much too long for bosses. Employees have 11 hours of rest between work shifts, that is much too long for them again."

The employer representatives don't just want to reconsider annual leave, parental leave, maternity leave or other types of work breaks, but they also want to increase the reference period to a year says LCGB president Patrick Dury.

"This means they wouldn't calculate whether employees had a 40-hour work week over the month, but over 12 months. So it's logical that this could lead to excess, where people are extremely in demand during some months of the year, and not really needed in others."
 
These feel like old demands from construction companies that prefer to work during the summer months and stay home during the winter. Over a year, there would hardly be any overtime to grant extra pay. The unions say such an annual reference period could be feasible now, but that it should form part of a collective agreement, negotiating the correct compensation for the staff.

© Pedro Venâncio / RTL

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