COVID-19: temporary exemption from maximum working hours

On 29 October 2020 the Law of 29 October 2020 was published in Mémorial A 868 and entered into force, introducing a temporary exemption from Article L 211-12 of the Labour Code whereby maximum working hours can be increased to 12 hours per day and 60 hours per week.

This exemption relates only to:

• employees working in the health sector, including in hospital establishments and medical testing laboratories;
• employees working in the care sector; and
• supervisory staff working in care homes for minors who are in custody (under a custody measure).

To benefit from the working hours exemption, employers must apply for authorisation from the minister of labour.

In order to be eligible, this application must include:

• the maximum number of working hours requested per day and, if applicable, per week;
• the total number of employees working for the applicant;
• the number of employees affected by the exemption;
• the reason for using these exemptions within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic; and
• notification from the staff representative (if there is no staff representative, the minister of labour requests notification from unions that can prove that they represent the country in general, which must be submitted within 12 hours of the application being sent).

The ministerial authorisation is valid only as long as the law is in force (ie, until 31 December 2020 (inclusive)).

For further information on this topic please contact Guy Castegnaro or Ariane Claverie at Castegnaro by telephone (+352 26 86 82 1) or email (guy.castegnaro@castegnaro.lu or ariane.claverie@castegnaro.lu). The Castegnaro website can be accessed at www.castegnaro.lu.