Paternity leave is a special 10-day leave granted to employed and self-employed fathers, as well as to any person recognised as a second parent on the occasion of the birth of a child, or the fostering of a child under the age of 16 with a view to adoption.

In principle, the leave may be taken according to the worker's wishes, unless these conflict with the business's operational needs. Failing an agreement between the employee and their employer, the leave must be taken all at once, and immediately after the event (the birth or adoption of a child).

The State pays for this leave from the 17^th hour onwards, and only upon application by the employer to the Ministry of Labour, Employment and the Social and Solidarity Economy.

Who is concerned

Employed and self-employed fathers, as well as any person recognised as an equivalent second parent under the applicable national legislation:

• based on the place of residence or nationality of the child or parent concerned; and
  
• which allows them to establish the filiation with the child without having to resort to an adoption procedure.

In principle, employers must grant the leave according to the worker's wishes, unless they conflict with the business's operational needs.

Prerequisites

Paternity leave will only be granted upon the presentation of:

• a medical certificate, in the event of a birth; or
• a probative document, in the event of the adoption of a child (see section on 'How to proceed').

Deadlines

Deadlines to be met by the employee

Employees must inform their employer in writing at least 2 months before the dates on which they plan to take their paternity leave.

In the absence of notification within the required deadline, the leave must be taken all at once immediately after the birth of the child. The employer and employee can however come to an agreement and find a flexible solution that allows the employee to take the leave:

• all at once or over several periods of time; and
• at a later date, taking into account the needs of both the employee and the employer as far as possible.

Deadlines to be met by the employer

Employers must file an application for refund of salaries paid in advance with the Ministry of Labour, Employment and the Social and Solidarity Economy within 5 months of the child's date of birth or arrival date.

How to proceed

Employee's application for leave

This information must be provided together with:

• a copy of the medical certificate attesting to the expected delivery date; or
• where applicable, a supporting document stating the estimated date of arrival of a child under 16 for adoption.

Employer's refund application

Paternity leave is paid by the State from the 17^th hour onwards.

For employees whose working week is less than 40 hours, who work part-time or who have more than one employer, the hour from which the reimbursement is due is set in proportion to the weekly working hours specified in the collective agreement or employment contract concerned.

The employer must send the request for reimbursement to the Ministry of Labour, Employment and the Social and Solidarity Economy via MyGuichet.lu or the MyGuichet.lu mobile application (see 'Forms / Online services'). This is a procedure with authentication that requires:

• a LuxTrust product (Token, Smartcard or Signing Stick); or
• an electronic identity card (eID).

The application must contain the following information:

• information about the company:
  • name, identification number and address of the company;
  • contact person;
  • bank details;
    
  • information on registration with an occupational health service;
• information relating to the employee/self-employed person:
  • surname and first name;
  • national identification number and profession;
  • address;
  • national identification number of the child;
    
  • information relating to the day(s) of leave;
    
  • the number of work hours per week.

Submitting an incomplete application interrupts the 5-month deadline, but delays the processing of the application.

The elements taken into account to calculate the amount to be reimbursed are the basic salary, declared by the employer to the Joint Social Security Centre, plus the social security contributions payable by the employer relating to the period of paternity leave.

The basic salary used to calculate the reimbursement is capped at five times the social minimum wage for unskilled workers. If the employee works part-time, the limit is adjusted in proportion to the number of hours worked.

Supporting documents

Employers must include the following supporting documents with their application:

• the employee's certificate of affiliation with the Joint Social Security Centre (Centre commun de la sécurité sociale – CCSS);
• the child's birth certificate or a copy of the adoption court order;
• the payslips for the period of paternity leave and for the month preceding it;

Duration of paternity leave

Paternity leave amounts to 80 hours (which can be split) for an employee whose normal working week is 40 hours.

For employees whose working week is less than 40 hours, who work part-time or who have more than one employer, these hours of leave are set in proportion to the weekly working hours specified in the collective agreement or employment contract concerned.

These hours must be taken within 2 months of the child's birth or, in the case of adoption, the child's move into the same household or the date on which the adoption takes effect.

Failing an agreement between the employee and their employer, the leave must be taken all at once, and immediately after the event (the birth or adoption).

Special cases

In the event of multiple births, the father is entitled to a full paternity leave for each child.

If the employee is ill (for one or more days) during the predetermined period of paternity leave, the leave corresponding to those days will be lost.

If the planned paternity leave has to be rescheduled – in particular, in the event of a premature birth – and the leave then falls within a planned period of annual leave, the period of annual leave will be interrupted for the duration of the paternity leave.

Forms / Online services

Who to contact