Extraordinary Leave: Marriage & Bereavement in Luxembourg

1. Summary table of entitlements

Article L.233-16 grants extraordinary leave entitlements for the following events, regardless of the employee's length of service:

2. Marriage leave

Employee's own marriage

When an employee marries or enters into an equivalent recognised partnership, they are entitled to 3 days of extraordinary leave. This leave must be taken in direct connection with the ceremony (see the rules in section 4).

Marriage of the employee's child

Each parent is entitled to 1 day of leave on the occasion of their child's marriage. If both parents are employed in Luxembourg, each may claim this entitlement independently of the other.

3. Bereavement leave

Death of spouse, partner or 1st-degree relative

The death of a spouse or partner, or of a 1st-degree relative (father, mother, son or daughter), entitles the employee to 3 days of leave. These days are granted to allow the employee to organise the funeral and go through the immediate period of grief.

Death of a minor child

The death of a minor child benefits from enhanced protection: 5 days of leave. This longer duration recognises the singular gravity of the loss of a child.

Death of a 2nd-degree relative

The death of a 2nd-degree relative entitles the employee to 1 day of leave. This covers:

• the employee's grandparents, brothers and sisters;
• the grandparents, brothers and sisters of the employee's spouse or partner (parents-in-law's parents, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law).

4. Rules common to all extraordinary leave

Leave must be taken at the time of the event

Extraordinary leave must be taken at the time the event occurs, consecutively from that date. It cannot be postponed or carried over onto ordinary annual leave. An employee cannot, for example, decide to take their marriage extraordinary leave several weeks after the ceremony.

Technical carry-over when a day is non-working

Where a day of extraordinary leave falls on a Sunday, a public holiday, a contractually non-working day or a compensatory rest day, it is carried over to the first working day following the event or the end of the leave period. This mechanism ensures that the employee actually benefits from the full number of days to which they are entitled.

No seniority requirement

The right to extraordinary leave is available from day one of employment, with no waiting period. The employee is not subject to the 3-month seniority condition that normally applies to ordinary annual leave (Art. L.233-6).

5. Interaction with other absences

Event occurring during annual leave

If an event giving rise to extraordinary leave occurs while the employee is on ordinary annual leave, the annual leave is interrupted for the duration of the extraordinary leave. The annual leave days thus interrupted are credited back to the employee and rescheduled by mutual agreement.

Event occurring during sick leave

Conversely, if the event occurs while the employee is already on certified sick leave, extraordinary leave is not due. The employee is already absent due to incapacity for work; the two regimes do not accumulate.

6. Employee protection

Article L.233-16 provides specific protection for any employee who requests or takes extraordinary leave:

• the employer is required to maintain the employee's position for the duration of the leave;
• it is prohibited to dismiss the employee or convene a pre-dismissal meeting on the grounds of the exercise of this right;
• any adverse measure taken in connection with a request for or the taking of extraordinary leave exposes the employer to legal consequences.

In the event of a dispute, the employee may bring a claim before the competent labour courts or contact the ITM for prior mediation.