Leave as a member of the national representation of pupils’ parents
A law of 1 August 2018 established a national representation of pupils’ parents for parents of pupils in primary and secondary education and in competence centres for specialised psycho-pedagogy, whose representatives are elected for a renewable term of three years.
‘Parents’ means the legal representatives of students.
As a result, the Labour Code has been supplemented by the addition of two ‘Parental Representation Leave’ types to special types of leave.
This national parent representation has the following tasks:
to represent and defend the interests of pupils’ parents and of their children enrolled in public or private primary schools, public or private secondary schools, Competence Centres for Specialised Psycho-pedagogy, and education and care services for school-age children;
to support parents’ representatives in schools and high schools in their dealings with the administrations
to represent parents with regard to the Minister of National Education, hereinafter referred to as ‘the Minister’, and with regard to the Government
to issue, on its own initiative or at the request of the Minister, an opinion on parliamentary bills and proposals and educational projects
to make proposals concerning life at school and teaching
to decide on all matters affecting the interests of parents and students;
to organise two-hour training courses each year for pupils’ parent representatives;
to draw up a code of ethics applicable to all pupils’ parent representatives.
In addition, it designates:
two representatives on the National Commission for Basic Education
four representatives on the Higher Council of National Education
one representative at the orientation forum
The Minister shall make available the premises and means necessary for the unit’s operation to the national parents’ representative, as well as an administrative secretary.
(Last updated on 2 September 2026)
Who are its members?
The national representation of parents is composed of sector representatives as follows
four representatives of parents of pupils in basic education;
six representatives of the parents of secondary school students;
two representatives of parents of pupils with special educational needs.
How are the national parent representatives appointed?
The national parents’ representatives are elected by sector parents’ representatives.
In each region, the regional director of primary education convenes a regional assembly of parents, comprising, for each primary school in the region, the elected parent representatives. The notice of meeting is sent to the parent representatives by email or post no later than 15 days before the date of the regional assembly of parents. Only parent representatives who have informed the regional director of primary education of their candidacy no later than 3 days before the meeting are eligible. If fewer than 2 candidacies have been submitted, the parent representatives present may submit their candidacy during the meeting.
Each regional assembly shall elect two representatives, by secret ballot and by simple majority, each school represented having two votes. Any other educational establishment or any other class legally established in Luxembourg and providing basic education shall elect a representative. The Minister shall convene these establishments and classes for the election of the representative. All the elected representatives shall form the sector representation of parents in basic education.
The parents’ committee of each secondary school shall elect two representatives from among its members by secret ballot and by simple majority. Any other educational establishment or class legally established in Luxembourg and providing secondary education shall elect a representative. The Minister shall convene these establishments and classes to elect the representative. All the elected representatives shall form the sector representation of parents in secondary education.
For each Competence Centre for Specialised Psycho-pedagogy, the director or the person in charge of the management shall convene a meeting of all parents in order to elect two representatives, by secret ballot and by simple majority.
The Minister convenes these establishments and classes for the election of the representative. All elected representatives together form the sectoral representation of the parents of pupils of the Competence Centres for Specialised Psycho-pedagogy.
Furthermore, the Minister shall convene a meeting of each sector representation to elect their national representatives. The invitation shall be sent at the latest fifteen days before the date set for the meeting by e-mail or by post. Only those representatives who have informed the Minister of their candidacy at least 7 days before the meeting are eligible. The election of the national representatives shall be by secret ballot and by simple majority. In the event of a tie, the representatives shall be elected by drawing lots.
(Last updated on 2 September 2026)
What is the duration of their term?
The national and sector representatives are elected for a renewable term of three years.
Who can be elected?
To be eligible as a representative of a sectoral representation, the candidate must be the parent of one or more pupils enrolled at that time in the relevant sector. Where a national or sectoral representative of pupils’ parents no longer has a child enrolled in the sector which he or she represents, his or her mandate as a representative ends.
In the event of a vacancy in the position of a national or sectoral representative because of death or resignation, the replacement is made no later than two months after notification of the event to the Minister, according to the ranking of candidates in the most recent elections of those representatives.
The parents of the same child may not simultaneously be members of the same sectoral representation and of the national representation. A parent may not be a member of more than one sectoral representation.
(Last updated on 2 September 2026)
Do these terms give the right to a specific leave?
The answer to this question is yes.
Leave of absence for parents of students who are members of the National School Board
Provision has been made for a leave of absence of two half-days per month for parents who are members of the National School Board, in order to fulfil their term.
Leave of absence for parent members in the national parent representation
A leave of absence o 8 days per year has been created for parents who are members of the national parents’ representative to fulfil their term.
The chairperson of the national representation of pupils’ parents is entitled to 12 days of leave per year.
For representatives working part-time, the number of hours/days of leave is calculated according to their working-time percentage.
(Last updated on 2 September 2026)
Are they covered by accident insurance while in office?
The law specifies that parent representatives attending a meeting under this law are insured under special accident insurance schemes.
Thanks to this leave, beneficiaries may be absent from their workplace while continuing to receive their remuneration.
The compensatory allowance is paid by the employer. The State reimburses the employer the amount of the allowance and the employer’s share of social security contributions based on a form available on guichet.lu.
The duration of the leave depends on the number of residents in the municipality and the role of the local elected representative and varies between 3 and 40 hours per week. (see tables above)
ATTENTION: The political leave entitlement is a maximum annual entitlement.
Under no circumstances may the total amount of political leave exceed a maximum of 40 hours per week.
Example:
Political leave for active elected officials who are 100% self-employed, do not benefit from a statutory scheme, and have not exceeded the age of 65 corresponds to 5 hours per 7 days = 0.714286 hours per day.
Pursuant to Article 5, paragraph 2 of the amended Grand-Ducal regulation dated 6 December 1989 concerning the political leave of mayors, aldermen and municipal councillors, only the annual entitlement is taken into account, so that the monthly entitlement may be transferred within a calendar year from one month to another.
An additional 15 hours of political leave per year may be granted to mayors, aldermen, and municipal councillors.
The allocation of this supplement is decided freely by the municipal council, independently of the exercise of a delegate mandate within an inter-municipal association.
A certificate bearing the date of issue and indicating the additional number of hours of leave granted must be issued to the elected municipal official concerned.
The right to political leave begins on the first of the month following the date of issue of these certificates and ends on the day the term in the syndicate of municipalities ends.
In any case, members of the municipal council may not benefit from more than 40 hours of political leave per week, including overtime. This limitation also applies when a municipal term is combined with a term as a deputy in the Chamber of Deputies.
In this context, the local elected officials concerned must attach to their request for reimbursement or compensation a statement specifying the number of hours compensated by the Chamber of Deputies. This statement must be requested from the accounting department of the Chamber of Deputies.
For people working part-time, the number of hours of leave is adapted in proportion to the time worked. The elected municipal official may take the leave at his convenience, per working day or part of a working day. However, he or she may not carry over the leave from one year to the next.
Political leave cannot be charged to annual leave with pay.
Is the period of this political leave considered as a period of actual work?
Yes, during the period of leave, the legal and regulatory provisions on social security and employment protection remain applicable to the beneficiaries.
The employer will continue to pay them their full salary, but will be reimbursed for the amount of political leave.
Can self-employed persons and persons without a profession benefit from political leave?
Yes, active members of the self-employed professions and persons without a profession not covered by a statutory scheme who are under 65 years of age and who are burgomasters, aldermen or municipal councillors are compensated for the time they devote to carrying out their mandates or functions.
The amount of the hourly allowance is fixed at four times the minimum social wage for qualified workers.
Access to secure electronic services requires a LuxTrust certificate (identity card, smartcard, signing stick or token). Users must first register on the ‘MyGuichet’ portal to gain access to the dedicated area.
The deadline for submitting applications for the year 2025 is 30 September 2026.
WARNING: Any application submitted after this date will be rejected; the employer or elected official will permanently lose the right to reimbursement or compensation.
– Submission by electronic or postal means
Applications may also be submitted by email or by post using the prescribed forms.
However, it is strongly recommended to avoid postal submission and to send scanned documents by email to: finances@mai.etat.lu
– ‘Employees’ form
(to be completed by the employer and countersigned by the employee elected official)
Each municipal elected official who carried out salaried work and benefited from political leave in 2025 is invited to forward Circular No. 2026-006 and the ‘Employees’ form to their employer.
The employer must return the duly completed and signed form to the Ministry of Home Affairs no later than 30 September 2026, either by email to finances@mai.etat.lu or by post to:
Ministry of Home Affairs
Directorate of Municipal Finances
P.O. Box 10
L-2010 Luxembourg
Payment for political leave hours of municipal elected officials is borne by municipalities through the municipal expenditure fund based on an average hourly cost.
Note: Municipal elected officials employed by ministries, administrations or state services are requested to send the relevant documents to the Government Centre for Personnel Management and Organisation (CGPO):
by email to conge.politique@cgpo.etat.lu or by post to:
CGPO
P.O. Box 1204
L-1012 Luxembourg
– ‘Self-employed and persons without profession’ form
(to be completed by the beneficiary)
Municipal elected officials who are self-employed or without a profession, do not benefit from a statutory scheme and are under 65 years of age are invited to complete the relevant form and submit it no later than 30 September 2026 to the Ministry of Home Affairs: by email to finances@mai.etat.lu or by post to:
Ministry of Home Affairs
Department of Municipal Finances
P.O. Box 10
L-2010 Luxembourg
Note: Persons benefiting from early retirement or entitled to an old-age or disability pension are subject to a statutory scheme and are therefore not entitled to political leave.
Can an elected representative of a commune in a country other than Luxembourg also benefit from this political leave?
As the legislation stands, the answer to this question is no, as long as no agreement exists between the competent authorities of the countries concerned.
Political Leave for Members of Parliament
What is the purpose of political leave for MPs?
The purpose of political leave is to allow employees who are members of Parliament to exercise their terms or functions.
CAUTION: Political leave may be used only for the performance of duties directly related to the fulfilment of their term, including in particular participation in the work of the Chamber of Deputies or of their political or technical group, and for the preparation of such work. The Bureau of the Chamber shall define the nature of the work to be taken into consideration and shall fix a flat rate for the proportion of political leave devoted to the preparation of the work.
The duration of the leave is a maximum of 20 hours per week.
The leave may be taken by day or part of a day, but may not be carried over from one parliamentary session to the next.
Political leave cannot be charged to annual leave with pay.
The political leave of local elected representatives may be combined with the annual political leave to which members of the Chamber of Deputies are entitled, provided that it does not exceed 40 hours per week. In this respect, the local elected representatives concerned must attach to their request for reimbursement or compensation a statement specifying the number of hours compensated by the Chamber of Deputies. This statement can be requested from the accounting department of the Chamber of Deputies.
Is the duration of this political leave considered as a period of actual work?
Yes, during the period of leave, the legal and regulatory provisions on social security and employment protection remain applicable to the beneficiaries.
The employer will continue to pay them their full salary, but will be reimbursed for the amount of political leave.
The political leave of Members of Parliament may be combined with the political leave of burgomasters, aldermen and local councillors, but may not exceed a maximum of 40 hours per week.
What is the procedure for the employer of the beneficiary employee to obtain reimbursement?
The Chamber of Deputies reimburses the employee’s employer an amount corresponding to the gross remuneration plus the employer’s social security contributions for the period during which the staff member was absent from work in order to fulfil his or her term, but not exceeding a maximum hourly rate set at four times the minimum social wage for qualified workers with dependants.
The Bureau of the Chamber shall determine the elements to be taken into consideration in establishing the normal remuneration and the conditions and procedures for reimbursement.
The purpose of this leave is to allow staff representatives to participate in training activities organised by trade union organisations or specialised institutions during their working hours and without loss of pay.
In this way, they can improve their economic, social and technical knowledge necessary for their role as staff representatives.
The employer is obliged to grant a certain number of days of training leave to the full members of the employee delegation.
The duration of this leave varies according to the size of the company:
in establishments with a regular workforce of between 15 and 49 employees, the full members of employee delegations are entitled to one week’s training leave each during their term of office;
in establishments with a regular workforce of between 50 and 150 workers, the full members of employee delegations are entitled to two weeks of training leave each during their term of office;
in establishments with more than 150 employees, the members of the employee delegation are each entitled to one week of training leave per year.
Delegates elected for the first time are also entitled to an additional 16 hours of training to be used during their term.
Alternate representatives are entitled to half the training hours granted to effective representatives.
It should be noted that the duration of the leave cannot be deducted from the annual leave with pay, it is considered as a period of work.
The employer and the State share the cost of this leave depending on the size of the company:
in establishments regularly employing between 15 and 49 workers, the related remuneration expenses are borne by the State;
in establishments regularly employing between 50 and 150 workers, the remuneration expenses for one week of training leave are paid by the State and the second week is paid by the employer;
in establishments with more than 150 regular employees, the employer alone bears the costs of the training leave for employee representatives.
Is there a specific leave for health and safety representatives?
Yes, in addition to the training leave provided for staff representatives, health and safety representatives are entitled to a specific leave of 40 hours per term to improve their knowledge in the field of occupational safety and health, the terms of which will be determined by Grand Ducal regulations.
First-time safety and health representatives have an additional ten hours of training leave for the first year of their term in the company in question.
Is there a specific leave for Equal Opportunity Officers?
Yes, Equal Opportunity Officers get two half-days of training leave per year, which cannot be charged to their annual recreation leave. The training leave period is treated as a period of work, with the related remuneration expenses paid by the State for companies whose total number of employees does not exceed 150.
The law requires employers to take all necessary measures for the protection of the safety and health of his employees. These activities include information and training, prevention of occupational risks and the establishment of a systematic organization to prevent occupational risks.
As the employer is often unable to devote the appropriate time to these obligations, the legislative body has provided for the employer to be assisted by an employee specially trained in this area, namely the designated worker.
One of the principle tasks of the designated worker is to take care of the measures related to the protection and prevention of occupational risks in the company.
How long is training leave for designated workers?
Designated workers must undergo appropriate training and periodic refresher training in occupational safety and health.
The Grand-Ducal Regulation dated 9 June 2006 determines procedures for required training of designated workers. This training includes basic training and advanced training, which depends on the size of the company in terms of the number of workers and the nature of the company’s business.
Employees who hold one or more of the following positions are eligible for social mandate leave:
members of a professional chamber;
members of a body of a social security institution;
assessor to the Labour Tribunal;
claims assessor at the Arbitration Board for the social security administration and the High Council of the social security administrations.
The persons concerned may only use the leave for social term to carry out assignments that are directly related to the performance of their term. They must notify their employer each time they are called upon to exercise their term.
What protection is provided to the employees concerned?
Beneficiaries may be absent from their place of work to carry out their terms or functions, while maintaining their normal remuneration and the benefits attached to their professional activity. The exercise of their corporate term may in no case be a cause for termination of their contract.
Social leave shall be considered as actual working time and shall not be charged to annual recreation leave.
The social mandate leave includes a maximum of four hours of work for each meeting or for each hearing of the institutions and jurisdictions, with reimbursement to the employer. Beyond the four hours, the employee is simply exempted from work with pay, but the employer gets no reimbursement.
How does the employer obtain reimbursement for social mandate leave?
The professional chamber, social security institution or court where the term is exercised shall reimburse the employer an amount corresponding to the gross salary plus the employer’s contributions paid to the social security institutions during the period in which the employee was absent from work in order to fulfil the term.
ATTENTION: reimbursement is made once a year and is based on a declaration to be submitted to the institution or court concerned by 31 March of the year following the year for which reimbursement is claimed.
Failure to submit the refund declaration by that date shall result in forfeiture of the refund entitlement for the year in question.
The declaration shall be made on a form which each member or assessor receives from the institution or court concerned and which they submit to their employer, who shall complete it and sign the declaration to claim reimbursement.
The accuracy of the information on the form is certified by the signature of the person concerned.