What are the benefits of working in Luxembourg?

If you intend to undertake a career in Luxembourg and already have a job offer from there, know the benefits that the country offers.

Work Hours and Paid Vacation

In Luxembourg, you need to work 40 hours a week, and if you work overtime, you are paid extra.

Employees can take 25 paid holidays annually after they have worked for three months with their employer. The paid leave should be taken in the calendar year for which it is applicable. It could, however, be postponed to the subsequent year in case of extraordinary situations.

Minimum Wages

The minimum wages are the highest in Luxembourg globally. The wages depend on the educational qualifications and skills of employees.

Rates of Taxes

The income tax of Luxembourg is calculated based on an individual's circumstances (for example, family type). Individuals are issued a tax class for this very reason.

The following are the three types of tax classes:

For a single individual, it is class 1. For people who are married or are in a civil union, it is class 2 (depending on specific conditions) Class 1a is applicable for single individuals with children and single taxpayers who are aged a minimum of 65 on January 1 of the tax year.

Social Security

A solid security system is in place in Luxembourg, providing migrant workers with a wide range of benefits for their contribution to the country's social security system. These benefits include public healthcare, sickness, maternity and paternity leave, unemployment benefits, and pensions for veterans and widowers.

To be eligible for any of these benefits, you need to have contributed to the social security scheme of Luxembourg for a specific period. Eligible for unemployment benefits are those employees who have worked a minimum of 26 weeks during the last 12 months. Payments to social security are automatically deducted from an employee's monthly salary.

Healthcare and Insurance

Healthcare insurance reimburses the medical costs of an employee and pays for the loss of leaves taken for medical issues. In Luxembourg, 25 percent is the average rate of an employee's gross salary, with a ceiling that cannot surpass the minimum wage five times.

An employee contributes 5.9 percent, and so does the employer. Self-employed employees also need to contribute depending on their salaries. If an employee has had an accident, sickness, pregnancy, or is drawing retirement pension and also annual paid vacation, that person is still eligible for compensation.

Maternity Leave

Female employees are eligible for maternity benefits, such as antenatal and postnatal leaves. The sum of maternity benefits is equivalent to the maximum wage earned by the employee in the three months before the maternity leave or for a self-employed person's contribution base who is availing of maternity leave.

Parental Leave

Eligible for parental leaves are those parents whose children are aged less than six. They are allowed a break in their careers or can reduce their work hours so that they can concentrate on their children's education.

The new parental leave lets both parents take a break from full-time work for four or six months or part-time for eight or 12 months (with the consent of the employer). Also offered by the law is the divided parental leave option.

Sickness Leave

All workers aged fewer than 68 are qualified for up to 78 weeks of statutory sick pay if they are absent from work due to illness within 104 weeks of the reference period. The Social Security authorities compensate the employee directly from the month after the one for which an employee has been absent for 77 days.

During the first 26 weeks of their leave, employees who have taken sick leaves cannot be fired. Eligible to apply for invalidity pensions are employees who are still unable to perform after the expiry of the statutory sick pay period.

Pensions

Employees aged 65 are issued regular old-age pensions if they have completed a contribution period of 10 months of voluntary, compulsory, or purchase periods or elective insurance. There are various exceptions to the minimum age retirement, like a worker can retire at 58 or 61 if specific that individual does not meet requirements.

Work Culture

The people of Luxembourg are like their other European counterparts in their style of communication, which is blunt. But diplomacy and tact are appreciated and regarded highly.

Though the organizations follow the traditional hierarchical structures, on the rise is a management approach encouraging more participation of employees in the last few decades. Luxembourgers are practical and level-headed. Traits like aggression and rebelliousness are not the norm, while charm and graciousness are accepted.

Do you want to migrate to Luxembourg? If so, get in touch with Y-Axis, the World's No.1 Immigration & Overseas Visa Consultancy.

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