Minister Dan Kersch;

Luxembourg's Minister of Public Service and Administrative Reform, Dan Kersch, has provided an update on the development of the bill introducing the introduction of a time savings account for personal leave for those working in the Public Service.

Following negotiations with the CGFP and taking into account the opinion of the Council of State, a number of amendments were discussed by the Government at its cabinet meeting on 2Wednesday of this week.

First of all, and for constitutional reasons raised by the Council of State, the rules governing the organisation of working time and leave will have to be determined by law. Therefore, the current related regulatory provisions will be transferred to law establishing the general status of State officials.

The main changes in this area, negotiated in recent weeks with the CGFP, concern the minimum duration of lunch breaks which is to be changed from one hour to half an hour, the half-hour progress of the start time of the working day (06:30 instead of 07:00), more flexibility in determining the mandatory attendance time of public officials, certain details concerning service exemptions and especially extraordinary holidays.

It has been decided that extraordinary holidays will be aligned with those to which private law employees are entitled. State officials will therefore be entitled to the following extraordinary leave:
- three working days for one's own wedding;
- one working day for the declaration of a civil partnership;
- ten working days for the father, in the event of the birth of a child;
- ten working days in the case of receiving a child under the age of sixteen for adoption, except while benefitting from home leave;
- one working day for the wedding of a child;
- three working days in the event of the death of one's spouse or partner or first-degree relative;
- five working days in the event of the death of a child (as a minor);
- one working day in the event of the death of a second-degree relative;
- two working days in case of moving home over a period of three years of service (except for professional reasons).

In addition, the rules on the time savings account (compte épargne-temps - CET) will be adapted to take into account the situation of teachers. The CET of teachers will be managed in lessons and the time-saving leave will also be used in lessons and not in hours as planned in the initial version of the bill. The management of CET in lessons will avoid having to convert lessons into hours and vice versa.