Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace in Luxembourg

1. Non-Discrimination in Employment Relations

Luxembourg Labour Code prohibits all discrimination, whether direct or indirect, in all employment relations: access to employment, vocational training, promotion, remuneration and working conditions. These prohibitions apply to both employers and professional and trade union organisations with regard to membership and access to the benefits they provide.

Gender equality (Art. L.241-1)

Prohibited: any discrimination based on sex — including any reference to marital or family status — as well as any discrimination related to a change of sex, which is treated as discrimination based on sex.

Extended non-discrimination (Art. L.251-1)

Also prohibited are discriminations based on:

An instruction to discriminate against a person is treated as discrimination. Harassment linked to any of these grounds — when it undermines a person's dignity by creating a hostile or humiliating environment — also constitutes a form of discrimination (Arts. L.241-1 and L.251-1), with the same legal consequences: reversal of the burden of proof, recourse to the Centre for Equal Treatment and sanctions.

2. Positive Actions (Art. L.243-1)

The law does not merely prohibit discrimination: it also authorises and frames corrective measures designed to compensate for structural inequalities related to sex.

Definition and forms

Positive actions are specific measures aimed at facilitating the professional activity of the under-represented sex or compensating for career disadvantages. They may take the form of:

Validity requirement

These measures must be part of a formalised company project in order to be valid (Art. L.243-1). Outside this framework, a measure that favours one sex could itself be classified as discrimination by the labour courts.

3. Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities — ADEM Scheme

The ADEM (Agence pour le développement de l'emploi — Employment Development Agency) offers an inclusion assistance scheme enabling the involvement of an approved assistant to facilitate the lasting integration or continued employment of a person with a disability within the company.

Eligibility conditions

The scheme requires the conclusion of an employment contract of at least 12 months. The approved assistant may work with the employee but also with the employer and colleagues, with the aim of fostering lasting integration into the working environment.

4. The Equality Delegate (Art. L.414-15)

The equality delegate is a member of the staff delegation specifically designated to ensure that the principles of equal treatment are applied within the company.

Responsibilities

Their remit covers the full scope of equality in employment relations:

Resources allocated

To carry out their role, the equality delegate receives a paid monthly or weekly credit of hours, adjusted according to company size, as well as two half-days of training leave per year of mandate (Art. L.414-15).

The equality delegate is not an autonomous body: they operate within the staff delegation and may coordinate actions with the safety delegate and trade union representatives in the company. They act in particular as the preferred point of contact in matters of sexual harassment (Art. L.245-6).