Personal working time arrangement

Employees working for a company with flexible working hours may request Personal working time arrangement, a measure that makes it easier for them to attend training courses due to the allowances provided by the flexible management of working hours.

Thanks to flexible working hours, the employee can request the adjustment of the hours and length of his/her working day to suit him/herself.

This management should be applied in compliance with:

• The requirements of the department and the justified wishes of other employees,
  
  
• The legal limits for working time. Apart from legal exceptions, working time cannot exceed 10 hours per day or 48 hours per week,
  
  

• Pre-defined rules in the context of regulations for flexible working hours.

01 Examples

Sylvie, an employee, attends office automation classes during her lunch break

Sylvie, 55, is working as a Secretary for a construction firm and needs to develop her Powerpoint knowledge. Her lunch break is the only convenient time for her to do so. However, the classes last for two hours and the regulations for flexible working hours in force in her company only provide for a one-hour lunch break.

Following negotiations, she and her boss agree that on the days of the classes, Sylvie will start work earlier, without exceeding the limits set out by law. Therefore, she will have taken advantage of personal working time arrangement in the framework of flexible working hours in order to attend her training.

Paul, an employee, is attending a 3-week training course which requires him to leave work early.

Paul, 42, works for a company located in the north of Luxembourg where the employees have access to flexible working hours. He has registered on his own accord for a training course being held in Luxembourg City.

The classes start at 6pm. Usually the core time during which he must be at work requires him to stay until 6pm. However, on the basis of personal working time arrangement in the framework of regulations for flexible working hours, he has agreed with his line manager to leave work earlier in order to attend his training.

02 Process    

There is no universal system for the management of flexible working hours, only recommendations are proposed for the parties involved in managing regulations for flexible working hours.

Regulations for flexible working hours may mean that:

• The management of working hour deficits noted at the end of the reference period may be subject to specific solutions. In this case, the maximum deficit amount for each reference period can be increased for the employee undertaking training, and similarly the deadline for clearing the deficits can be extended,
• Core time during which employees must be at work can be adjusted on an individual basis, according to the specific constraints of those undertaking training,
• The total range (start and end of working hours) including core and flexible time can be extended beyond the normal limits.

Refusal by the employer    

As far as companies are concerned, those who:

• Either refuse to introduce flexible management of working time for those training,
  
• Or refuse to manage hours in the way set out by this measure,

should provide reasons for their refusal in terms of departmental needs or requirements for the efficient organisation of the business.

An internal company body may be set up in agreement with staff representatives in order to settle any disagreements relating to the assessment of the grounds cited in flexible working hours matters.