Members of staff delegations have the right to leave their posts without any reduction in their remuneration to the extent necessary to carry out the tasks conferred on them by law, after informing the head of the company and with the proviso that this does not hinder the smooth running of operations.
Within the framework of their mandate, the head of the company must allow the members of the delegation the time necessary to carry out their duties and must pay this time as working time.
Companies with less than 250 employees
In order to be able to fulfil their legal missions, the representatives are entitled to a number of hour credits as follows:
In companies with a workforce of no more than 149 employees, the head of the company grants the staff representatives a total credit of paid hours proportional to the number of employees they represent on the basis of a credit of 40 hours per week for 500 employees.
In companies with between 150 and 249 employees, the head of the company grants the representatives a total credit of paid hours proportional to the number of employees they represent on the basis of a credit of 40 hours per week for 250 employees.
In applying the provisions of the preceding paragraphs, fractions of an hour equal to or greater than half an hour shall be rounded up to the next higher unit; fractions of an hour less than half an hour shall be rounded down to the next lower unit.
The time credits referred to above shall be distributed, in proportion to the votes received, among all the lists having obtained at least 20% of the seats at the time of the election.
The head of the company shall be obliged to release from all work generally of any kind and to grant permanent exemption from service with continued pay as well as, where applicable, the right to promotion and advancement to:
one representative when the number of employees is between 250 and 500;
two representatives, when the number of employees is between 501 and 1,000;
three representatives, when the number of employees is between 1,001 and 2,000;
four representatives, when the number of employees is between 2,001 and 3,500;
one additional representative for every 1,500 employees, when the number of employees exceeds 3,500.
The appointment of the released representatives shall be made by secret ballot of the list by the members of the delegation according to the rules of proportional representation.
However, when there are more than 1,000 employees, the trade union organisations which are represented nationally, represented within the delegation and linked to the company by a collective labour agreement each appoint one of the released representatives.
The delegation can decide to convert one or more released representatives into a credit of hours, on the basis of forty hours per released representative and in proportion to the votes obtained at the time of the election. It informs the head of the undertaking.
Right to assemble
The staff delegation may meet once a month during working hours, subject to five working days’ notice to the management, unless a shorter period is agreed; however, it must meet during working hours at least six times a year, of which three must be with the company management.
Time spent at meetings is paid as working time.
Once a year, the staff delegation can meet in plenary session with the salaried staff of the company. The meeting, which is held behind closed doors, is convened by the chairman of the delegation.
The head of the company may be invited to attend or to be represented.
The staff delegation may provide for consultation hours in the delegation room for the company’s salaried staff.
Where the delegation includes one or more released representatives, these consultations shall be carried out by them during working hours at times fixed by the delegation and communicated in advance to the head of the company.
Delegations which do not include a released representative may provide for consultation hours either outside working hours or during working hours; in the latter case, they must first agree with the head of the company on the time and the procedures for organising and granting consultation hours, which are charged to the delegation’s time credit.
In companies employing at least 51 employees during the 12 months preceding the first day of the month in which the elections are announced, advisors, whether or not they are part of the company’s staff, may participate in meetings of the staff delegation in an advisory capacity to review specific questions, when a majority of the representatives so request, provided their number does not exceed one third of the members of the delegation.
Determination of advisors
Advisers’ proposal
In companies with between 51 and 150 employees, during the 12 months preceding the first day of the month in which the elections are announced, the trade unions that have general national or sector representativeness and that have at least one third of the regular elected representatives have the right to recommend advisors.
In companies with more than 150 employees during the 12 months preceding the first day of the month in which the elections are announced, the trade unions which are nationally representative in general or in the sector referred to above and which obtained at least 20% of the elected representatives at the last elections have the right to recommend one of the advisors each. In this case the limit of one third of the number of members of the delegation as regards the number of advisors may be exceeded.
Designation of advisors
The delegation shall designate the advisors who will be entitled to attend the meetings of the delegation, if necessary on the basis of proposals submitted to it in accordance with the preceding paragraphs.
If the total number to be appointed exceeds that of the advisors thus nominated, the staff delegation may approve additional advisors up to a limit of one third of the members of the delegation.
To this end, trade unions which enjoy the general or sector national representativeness referred to above and which have at least one third of the regular elected members have the right to make proposals.
External experts
The delegation may decide to appoint an external expert when it considers that the matter is of decisive importance for the company or for the employees.
Unless there is a prior agreement to the contrary, the financial contribution by the company is limited to one expert and may not exceed, per financial year and per expert, a percentage of the total annual payroll, declared by the employer to the Joint Social Security Centre during the year preceding the decision on the mandate, which is determined by Grand-Ducal regulation at 0.10%. The head of the company must be informed in advance of the nature of the mandate thus conferred.
Recourse to professional employers' and trade union organisations
In all companies with a staff delegation, the delegation may decide, at the request of the representatives or the head of the company, to entrust specific issues to the joint examination of a professional employers’ organisation and a trade union which enjoys representativeness on a general or sector level nationally.
The communications, reports and positions of the staff delegation, the Equal Opportunity Officer and the Health and Safety Officer are freely posted on various media accessible to staff and reserved for this purpose, including electronic media, insofar as they are directly related to their duties.
Representatives elected on:
a list presented by a trade union organization that enjoys representativeness on a general or sector level nationally;
a list presented by another trade union organization, provided that they represent an absolute majority of the members of the delegation.
may also:
freely post union communications on various media reserved for this purpose and distinct from those mentioned above; a copy of these union communications is sent to the head of the company at the same time as it is posted;
freely distribute publications and leaflets of a trade union nature to the company’s employees within the company premises and at places to be agreed with the company manager.
Right to contact the company's employees
The members of the staff delegation have the right to come into contact with all the employees of the company. As such they are entitled to move freely in the company, on building sites or other temporary workplaces and to come into contact with the employees after having informed the employer. They also have the right to contact them by all means of communication available in the company.
The employer shall allow staff representatives the time, known as training leave, necessary to participate in paid training activities organised by the trade union organisations or by specialised institutions, including professional chambers, at times coinciding with normal working hours and aimed at improving their economic, social and technical knowledge in their role as staff representatives.
The duration of the training leave cannot be deducted from the annual leave with pay; it shall be considered as a period of work.
In companies employing between 15 and 49 employees during the 12 months preceding the first day of the month in which the elections are announced, the members of the staff delegation are entitled to one week’s training leave each during their term of office, with related remuneration expenses paid by the State.
Companies with 50 to 150 employees
In companies employing between 50 and 150 employees during the 12 months preceding the first day of the month in which the elections are announced, the members of the staff delegation are entitled to two weeks’ training leave each during their term of office, the remuneration expenses relating to one week’s training leave being borne by the State.
Companies with more than 150 employees
In companies with more than 150 employees during the 12 months preceding the first day of the month in which the elections are announced, the members of the staff delegation are each entitled to one week of training leave per year.
New mandates
Representatives elected for the first time are entitled to an additional 16 hours during the first year of their mandate.
Alternate representatives
The alternate members of the staff delegation get half the training hours of the regular representatives.
When these alternate members become full members during their term of office, the part of the training leave already taken in application of the preceding paragraph shall be deducted from the training leave to which they are entitled as full representatives.
Eligible training
Training leave must be granted by the head of the company at the request of representatives who wish to attend approved training courses each year, from a list drawn up by mutual agreement by the employers’ professional organisations and the trade unions which enjoy representativeness on a general or sector level nationally.
Specific requests may be addressed to the Minister of Labour, who must approve such training.