Luxembourg’s Employers’ Association (UEL) expressed surprise on Tuesday after Labour Minister Marc Spautz reiterated that changes to working time regulations should only be introduced via collective agreements.
This position stems from a pact agreed last July between government and social partners, including the UEL, as part of the national action plan to promote collective bargaining.
The plan identified three possible areas for negotiation: the possibility of condensing a forty-hour week into four days, allowing more than one break per day, and reorganising weekends.
Crucially, the document states that any change to working time must be the subject of a collective agreement.
Despite this prior agreement, the UEL said it had not anticipated the minister would maintain such a firm stance. UEL director Charlotte Junck explained that many UEL members are small enterprises who have indicated that the proposed reforms are not currently feasible for them in practice.
She emphasised the need for practical legislation that takes real workplace conditions into account, and added that the employers’ group was genuinely surprised by the minister’s unwavering position.
Responding to questions about whether the UEL’s recent call for a "de minimis" exemption – allowing small companies to introduce flexible working hours without a collective agreement – contradicted its previous commitments, Junck rejected that interpretation.
She stated that the UEL had always advocated practical solutions for small businesses and had raised this issue repeatedly in recent meetings.
According to Junck, employers want to find a solution through social dialogue with unions, aiming to ensure that flexibility can function for all companies without removing oversight or creating unregulated conditions.
Although the Labour Minister intends to close the file on working time negotiations, the subject will be discussed again by the National Committee for Employment, despite not being on the latest agenda.
This approach is supported by the Independent Luxembourg Trade Union Confederation (OGBL) president Nora Back, who concurs with the minister’s view.
Back pointed out that the question of whether working conditions should be covered by collective agreements was settled last July, when all sides agreed that working hours would be negotiated as part of collective bargaining.
This agreement followed a dispute that began two years earlier. While Back expressed surprise that the UEL wanted to revisit the matter, she insisted the OGBL would not reopen negotiations or relitigate the principle of collective bargaining.
The original agreement did not mention any further flexibility for part-time work, which is a point of concern for the trade unions.
Back also noted that demands for increased flexibility predominantly come from low-wage sectors such as cleaning and retail.
In these industries, many employees work part-time and already face highly variable schedules, which are often determined at short notice by their employers.
This situation leaves workers vulnerable to unpredictable changes in their working hours.
The OGBL insists it will oppose any move that could make working conditions even less predictable for these employees.
Back highlighted that retail staff already contend with extended opening hours, while cleaning workers are often at the bottom of the workplace hierarchy.
She warned against exposing these workers to unregulated practices, stressing that many part-time employees in Luxembourg did not choose such contracts, but instead had them imposed unilaterally by their employers.
