Europe Day and Ascension Here's what the double public holiday means for you

2024 is full of surprises – you have probably noticed that in Luxembourg in May, there is not one, but two public holidays falling on the same day.

This year, 9 May marks both Europe Day and the Feast of the Ascension. Unfortunately, this means that there will be only ten public holidays in 2024 instead of the usual eleven.

It is a very rare occurrence and the last time this happened was in 2008. That year, the Feast of the Ascension coincided with 1 May, which is also Labour Day.

Two public holidays on 9 May 2024: what does this mean for you

For those of you who were hoping for several long weekends this May: don’t worry, the government has thought of you. MPs namely passed a law to ensure that you don’t miss out on this public holiday. These are the scenarios to be aware of.

If you usually don’t work on public holidays, there are three possible scenarios:

1. 9 May falls on a business day: You don’t have to go into the office and the day is paid like any other. You are also entitled to a compensatory day off in the three months following the public holiday.
2. 9 May falls on a non-business day: You are entitled to two days off for each public holiday, i.e. one for Europe Day and one for Ascension Day. Again, both days must be taken within three months.
3. 9 May falls on a business day, but your schedule only included 4 hours of work or less. You are entitled to two half-days off, to be taken within three months.

However, if you normally work on 9 May, the scenario is different. Considering you are working on a public holiday, you are entitled to:

• Your usual pay,
• A second regular pay given it’s a public holiday but you’re still at work,
• A third pay, which is a 100% supplement,
• And a day off to be taken within three months, in compensation for the second public holiday.

Overall, this double holiday scenario is a little convoluted, but luckily not a scenario that recurs very often.

Video report in French