Luxembourg vacation days and annual leave rules

Employees in Luxembourg are generally entitled to at least 26 days of paid annual leave each year, although your exact entitlement can depend on your start date, working pattern, sector, and collective agreement.

This guide explains Luxembourg vacation and annual leave rules, including how leave is calculated and taken. It is for general information only and not legal advice. See Employment law and labor rights in Luxembourg for the wider legal framework and always check the latest rules with your employer, Guichet.lu, or the ITM before booking time off.

Key takeaways

• Statutory entitlement: Most employees get at least 26 working days of paid annual leave a year under Luxembourg’s statutory rules.
• Waiting period: You earn leave from the start of employment, but generally need to complete three continuous months with the same employer before taking it.
• Carry-over rules: Annual leave should normally be used in the year it is earned, although certain exceptions allow unused days to be carried over.
• Sickness during leave: Certified sickness during holiday periods does not count as annual leave, provided you follow the required medical certificate and notification rules.
• Contractual variations: Check your contract or collective agreement, as it may give you more generous leave than the statutory minimum.

How many vacation days do you get in Luxembourg?

Employees in Luxembourg are generally entitled to a statutory minimum of 26 working days of paid annual leave per year. If you are searching for Luxembourg vacation days, this is the standard legal minimum.

However, your actual entitlement may be higher. Your employment contract or collective agreement can provide additional days of annual leave.

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How leave builds up in your first year

During your first year of employment, annual leave accrues at one-twelfth of your yearly annual entitlement for each full month worked.

Based on the statutory minimum of 26 days, that works out at about 2.167 days per month, and a fraction of a month exceeding 15 days counts as a full month.

You accrue leave from the start of your employment, but generally cannot take it until you have completed three continuous months with the same employer, unless your employer allows you to take it earlier.

Why some sources still show 25 days

Some English-language pages still show 25 days, which can confuse new arrivals. This was Luxembourg’s previous statutory minimum, but it increased from 25 to 26 working days a year from 1 January 2019. Current guidance from both Guichet.lu and the ITM states that the statutory minimum is 26 working days.

Who qualifies for annual leave in Luxembourg?

Annual leave in Luxembourg covers employees and apprentices, whether they work full-time or part-time, and whether they are on fixed-term or permanent contracts. In practice, if you are an employee rather than self-employed, paid leave Luxembourg rules will usually apply to you.

Luxembourg is multilingual, so your contract or HR documents may refer to annual leave as congé annuel or congé payé rather than “vacation days” in English.

Check these four points in your own case:

• your contract type
• your start date
• weekly working hours
• whether a collective agreement applies to you

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How part-time work and parental leave affect entitlement

If you work part-time, your annual leave entitlement is calculated pro rata according to your weekly working hours.

During full-time parental leave, you do not accrue new annual leave, although unused leave from before the parental leave is carried forward within the applicable legal rules.

During part-time parental leave, annual leave is calculated pro rata according to the hours you continue to work.

How to request and take leave in Luxembourg

In real life, requesting annual leave is usually straightforward, but it pays to plan ahead and keep written records.

In a multilingual or cross-border workplace, written approval can help avoid misunderstandings about dates. Workplace timing can also reflect local expectations, so getting familiar with work culture and business etiquette in Luxembourg can be useful.

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When your employer can refuse your dates

An employer can refuse requested dates because of business needs or the justified wishes of other employees. Certain levels of unjustified absence can also be grounds for refusal.

However, refusing particular dates is different from denying your statutory right to annual leave, and an employer cannot simply force you to take unpaid leave instead.

• Check your employer’s written leave policy and any applicable collective agreement.
• Ask HR or your manager to explain the refusal in writing.

Sector and contract exceptions to know

Some sectors and workers have specific rules. Apprentices generally take annual leave during school holidays, while agriculture, wine-growing and HORECA have restrictions on when employees can insist on taking leave. Employees of credit institutions and investment companies must take at least 10 consecutive days of annual leave each year.

Writer

Gary Buswell

Insider Tip

If you work in Luxembourg’s financial sector, check both the sector rules and any collective agreement that applies to you. Your agreement may provide benefits beyond the statutory minimum, while certain financial-sector employees must also observe the 10-consecutive-day rule.

What happens to unused leave?

The general rule is that annual leave should usually be taken during the year it belongs to. Carry-over is possible in certain circumstances, however, and the deadline depends on why the leave was not taken.

For example, leave accrued during your first year of employment can be carried over on request until 31 December of the following year. Leave you could not take because of operational needs can generally be carried over until 31 March, while illness can allow unused leave to be deferred for longer.

Before year-end, verify these three points:

• your employer’s carry-over policy
• the leave balance shown in your HR system or payslip
• any written approval for deferred days

Carry-over rules and deadlines

There is no single deadline covering every situation. The rules vary according to why you could not take the leave. Employers can also offer more generous carry-over arrangements, so check your contract, collective agreement, payslip, or workplace policy.

Sick during annual leave? What changes

If you get sick during leave:

How public holidays and extra leave fit in

Annual leave and public holidays are not the same thing. Jours fériés légaux are statutory public holidays, and Luxembourg has 11 of them each year.

That difference matters in practice. Your annual leave is paid time off that you normally schedule with your employer, while statutory public holidays sit outside your annual leave entitlement.

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Public holidays and compensatory time off

If a statutory public holiday falls on a day you would not normally work, you are generally entitled to a compensatory day off. This normally has to be granted within three months.

If business operations make that impossible, different deadlines can apply, including until the end of the year or, for public holidays in November and December, during the first three months of the following year.

Writer

Gary Buswell

Insider Tip

If a legal public holiday falls on one of your normal days off, ask HR when your compensatory day will be recorded rather than assuming it will automatically appear in your annual leave balance.

Other types of leave expats often confuse with annual leave

• Congé extraordinaire is special leave for specific personal or family events and does not come out of your ordinary annual leave entitlement.
• Congé parental is parental leave, which has its own eligibility and payment rules.
• Sick leave covers incapacity to work and comes with separate notification and medical-certificate requirements.
• Leave for family reasons is a separate entitlement for certain situations involving a sick child.

What expats should check in their contract and payroll

If you are not sure what applies to you, start with your own employment documents before trying to work out which legal rule applies. For cross-border workers especially, local employment rights can be closely linked with wider tax and social security issues.

Use this checklist:

• The annual leave entitlement stated in your contract.
• How your leave entitlement and remaining balance are calculated and recorded.
• Whether a collective agreement applies to you.
• If carried-over sick days appear on your payslip or leave record
• Whether sick leave or parental-leave paperwork follows a separate HR or social security process.

How collective agreements can increase your entitlement

Collective agreements can provide more generous leave than the statutory minimum, so do not assume the legal baseline is your final entitlement. Luxembourg’s statutory annual leave is generally 26 working days, but additional days can be provided through a collective or individual agreement.

For example, the current banking collective agreement listed by ITM provides 26 days for employees under 45, rising through several age bands to 29.5 days for employees aged 55 and over. It also provides additional rest days, showing why it is important to check the rules for your sector and employer.

How to verify your days with HR, Guichet, and ITM

Use a simple process if your leave balance looks wrong.

1. Start with your employment contract, collective agreement, and internal leave policy.
2. Ask HR or payroll to explain how your entitlement and remaining balance were calculated.
3. Compare the explanation with current Guichet and ITM guidance.
4. If you still disagree about your entitlement, consider seeking independent legal or employment advice.

Useful sources

(accessed 18 August 2026)

• Guichet.lu annual paid leave for employees – Official information on requesting annual leave as an employee
• Guichet.lu annual paid leave for employers – Official information on employee leave entitlements
• Luxembourg public.lu public holidays page – Government information on official annual public holidays
• ITM working hours guidance – Official information on working hours in Luxembourg
• ITM collective agreements for banks – Example of legal collective agreements (banking sector)