Employees from the private sector with at least 2 years of service with their employer, regardless of the type of employment contract that they have with their company, can request unpaid training leave.
Eligible training may be provided in Luxembourg or abroad by:
The employee must submit his/her request by registered letter with an acknowledgement of receipt or by a letter delivered in person against receipt.
The request must contain information relating to:
The person requesting the leave must comply with a notice period of:
At the employer's request, the employee must produce an attendance certificate for the training for which he/she has received the unpaid leave.
The employer should respond within 30 days in writing, with an acknowledgement of receipt.
The unpaid leave request may be:
A deferment may apply if:
In the event of multiple leave requests in one department or company which cannot all be accepted, if no agreement is reached between the employees concerned and no deferment of leave is granted, priority will be given to the request made by the employee with proof of the longest service with the company.
The duration of leave is always expressed in whole weeks or months, and must be in proportion to the length of the training.
The employment contract is suspended during the period of leave. This is a provisional interruption of the effects of the employment contract without a breach. It is up to the employee to join voluntary insurance schemes for the duration of the unpaid leave (e.g. health insurance, pension insurance).
The employer must retain the job of the employee on leave, the latter recovering on his/her return all of the accrued benefits prior to the start of the leave or, where this is not possible, a similar job matching his/her qualifications, with an equivalent or higher salary and the same accrued benefits.
Acceptance of the unpaid leave request represents a binding agreement, both for the employee and the employer.
However, in the event of force majeure, the employer's acceptance or the employee's commitment may be cancelled under certain conditions:
An illness during the unpaid leave does not entitle the employee to a deferment of the remaining authorised duration of leave.
In the event of illness that extends over a period of more than 25% of the duration of the leave, or in the event of force majeure that makes participation at all or part of the training impossible, the employee may seek the termination of his/her leave.
The employer must comply with this request, unless urgent work organisation circumstances do not allow for the employee to be reintegrated prior to the end of the leave granted.