In general, an employee does not have the right to be absent from the workplace for a medical examination for personal reasons without their employer's authorisation.

In this case, the employee must make sure they have explicit approval from the employer before going to a medical appointment during working hours. If the employer does not agree, the employee cannot force their employer to approve such an absence.

If the employee is absent without authorisation, the employer can sanction them for the unjustified absence – e.g. by issuing a formal warning. Alternatively, the employer may ask the employee to take leave to attend the appointment, or to make up the lost time. In any case, absence to attend a doctor's appointment does not, in itself, constitute a serious reason for dismissal.

Only those medical examinations that are specified by the Luxembourg Labour Code are considered as working time. As such, only the time taken for mandatory medical checks must be paid.

On the other hand, time used for non-mandatory medical checks does not have to be paid, unless the employer approves the absence itself and agrees to pay the employee even though they do not work during that time.

In conclusion, an employee wishing to take absence to visit a general practitioner must, in general:

• either make arrangements for the medical appointment to take place outside of their working hours;
• or request authorisation from their employer to be absent. In the latter case, the employer may ask the employee to make up the lost time, or use leave time.