Parental leave

Parental leave is a type of leave which can be taken by the parents of a child under the age of 5 if the parents work and wish to take a break from or temporarily reduce their professional activities in order to dedicate their time to raising their child.

If the parents both work in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and both fulfil the conditions, each of them individually is entitled to parental leave for the same child.

Qualifying conditions for parental leave

A number of conditions must be met in order for a person to qualify for parental leave. These conditions relate to the parents, but also to the child.

In order to qualify for parental leave, you must:

  • be resident in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg or a European Union Member State and reside there on a permanent basis,
  • carry on a professional activity:
    • at the time of the child's birth or their adoption,
    • at the time of applying for parental leave,
    • at the time when the parental leave starts,
    • continuously for at least 12 months immediately prior to the start of parental leave; (The condition of continuity of occupation and membership is presumed to be fulfilled if you have no interruptions totalling more than 7 days over the course of the year preceding the start of parental leave),
    • throughout the duration of the parental leave,
  • have been a member of the compulsory health insurance scheme throughout the same period,
  • not conduct any professional activity during the parental leave, or else reduce your professional activities in order to devote your time primarily to caring for your child during the leave.

Conditions linked to the child

The child must:

  • be under the age of 5 (at least half of the parental leave must have been taken prior to the child's 5th birthday),
  • legally belong to your family group,
  • be raised in your household,
  • be in receipt of child benefit.

How can I take parental leave?

If both parents are entitled to parental leave, one of the parents' entitlement to parental leave must be taken immediately after the end of the maternity leave or adoption leave (the first parental leave).

The other parent may take the second block of parental leave before the child turns 5.

If neither of the two parents has taken the first block of parental leave (immediately following on from maternity leave), it is forfeited. However, either one of the two parents may still take the second block of leave, to which they remain entitled, before the child's fifth birthday.

If only one of the parents is entitled to parental leave, particularly due to the fact that the other parent does not work, that leave may be taken at any time from the eighth week after birth up until the child turns 5.

At least half of the entitlement to parental leave must have been taken prior to the child's fifth birthday.

Applying to your employer

For the first block of parental leave (following on from maternity leave)

Employees must apply to their employer to take the first block of parental leave at least 2 months prior to the planned start of maternity or adoption leave.

The request must be sent to the employer by registered letter, with confirmation of receipt.

The employer may not refuse or postpone the first block of parental leave, provided that the request has been submitted in due time and form.

However, the employer may refuse to grant part-time leave, obliging the parent to take full-time leave for the period.

Parental leave up until the child's fifth birthday (second block of parental leave)

The request to take the second block of parental leave must be sent to the employer at least 6 months prior to the planned start date.

The request must be sent to the employer by registered letter, with confirmation of receipt.

The employer may not refuse the parental leave, but may ask to postpone it if the parent's absence would adversely impact the running of the business.

The leave may be postponed by no more than 2 months, unless the business has fewer than 15 employees, or is a seasonal-type business. In these specific cases, the leave may be postponed by up to 6 months, or until after the end of the season.

Parental leave cannot be postponed if the child's circumstances require the parent to be present.

At least half of the entitlement to parental leave must have been taken prior to the child's fifth birthday.

Exceptions

  • Single parents may take their entitlement to parental leave within the 5 years allowed for the second block.
  • If you are on a trial period at work, you cannot apply for and take parental leave until after that trial period is over.

New

If you do not wish to take the leave immediately following maternity leave, and you do not want the other parent to take the second block of parental leave, you may apply for 3 months' unpaid leave.

You must apply to your employer for this block of parental leave 6 months prior to the planned start date, by registered letter with confirmation of receipt.

In that case, the employer is required to grant the requested leave. The employer may not postpone it.

Application to the Children's Future Fund (CAE)

Application for allowance for the first block of parental leave

The application for the first block of parental leave must be lodged in writing within 15 days of the employer receiving the request.

A birth certificate must be sent to the Children's Future Fund (Caisse pour l'avenir des enfants - CAE) within 15 days of registering the child on the Civil Register.

A medical certificate attesting that the mother is breastfeeding, in order to extend maternity leave for reasons of breastfeeding, must be sent to the CNPF by the 7th week following the birth (the same certificate as is needed for the health insurance fund). You must also inform the CNPF if maternity leave is not being extended.

Application for allowance for the second block of parental leave

The application for the second block of parental leave must be filed within 15 days of the employer's response, or else within 15 days of the passing of the 4-week deadline for the employer to respond, if they do not. This refers to the 4 weeks which an employer has to inform their employee if they wish to postpone the requested parental leave. If the employer fails to respond within that time, they are deemed to have approved the leave as requested.

Duration of parental leave

The leave must be taken in its entirety, and all in one go. It cannot be split up and used over an extended period of time. If you return to work before the planned end of your parental leave, you will be required to pay back any allowance received up until that point.

Any parental leave entitlement that is not taken cannot be transferred to the other parent.

Full-time leave

You can take full-time parental leave over the course of 6 months, even if you only work part-time.

In this case, you suspend your employment contract entirely for 6 months.

In the case of a multiple birth or a multiple adoption, the duration of the leave is multiplied by the number of children in question. The application for parental leave applies to all children from the same birth or adoption. For example, if you have twins, you are entitled to 2 × 6 months, which is 12 months.

The two parents cannot simultaneously take full-time leave. If both parents apply for leave at the same time, the one whose patronymic surname comes first alphabetically will be given priority.

Part-time leave

You can also take part-time parental leave, spread over 12 months.

However, your employer will need to approve this.

If your employer does not agree, you will only be able to take full-time parental leave.

You can apply for part-time parental leave, irrespective of whether you currently work full-time or part-time.

Example:

If you work on a half-time basis, i.e. 20 hours a week, and you apply for full-time parental leave, your employment contract is completely suspended for 6 months, and you are entitled to the allowance for full-time parental leave for those 6 months.

If you work half time, i.e. 20 hours a week, and you apply for part-time parental leave, you must reduce your working hours by at least half the normal duration of the company's working hours: i.e. 20 hours: 20 hours - 20 hours = 0 hours. Your employment contract is completely suspended for 12 months, and you are entitled to the allowance for part-time parental leave for those 12 months.

Part-time parental leave may be taken simultaneously by the two parents, provided that one of them is always present with the child.

Parental leave and working relationships

The employment contract is suspended for the duration of the parental leave. It automatically resumes at the end of the period of parental leave; this is not a new employment contract. The employer is required to keep your position open, or else provide a similar position with the same pay.

The employer cannot terminate your employment contract during your parental leave, except for serious reasons.

If you are on a trial period at work, you cannot apply for and take parental leave until after that trial period is over.

If a new period of maternity leave begins during the mother's parental leave, the parental leave is suspended. The parental leave allowance is replaced by maternity pay. The remaining portion of parental leave is postponed, to be taken at the end of the maternity leave.

Parental leave does not carry an entitlement to annual paid leave.

Parental leave allowance

During paid parental leave, you are entitled to a monthly allowance paid by the CNPF.

Parental leave allowance is exempt from taxes and social insurance contributions, with the exception of the portion of the health insurance premium for benefits in kind and the contribution for long-term care insurance. Contributions to pension insurance are paid by the State during the period of parental leave.

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