Luxembourg Considers Reintroducing Cultural Leave for Artists, Volunteers

On Thursday 27 January 2022, Luxembourg's Minister of Culture, Sam Tanson, presented a bill (re)establishing cultural leave and amending the labour code as well as previously amended laws on the subject.

According to the Ministry of Culture, there has been strong demand from the cultural sector for several years for the reintroduction of cultural leave following the repeal of the law of 12 July 1994 establishing such leave in 2014.

The purpose of cultural leave is to allow participation in high-level cultural events or recognised events that are not part of the applicant's main professional activity, as well as offering the possibility of taking part in specialised training in the cultural field organised by an approved body. Three categories of applicants can benefit from cultural leave: cultural actors, administrative executives or people designated by federations, national networks or associations in the cultural sector.

Minister Tanson highlighted that the reintroduction of cultural leave must "allow artists to find a balance between their professional life and the exercise of their art, or even to allow them a transition towards their professionalisation as an artist". She added that it is also “essential to strengthen volunteering in the cultural sector, because it is becoming more and more complicated for federations and associations to find committed people to pursue these activities alongside their professional lives".

Among the main changes proposed by this bill is the replacement of the maximum number of days of leave distributed over an entire professional career by a maximum number of days of leave distributed annually, in order to guarantee greater flexibility. The number of leave days granted per year depends on the category of beneficiaries. A derogation from the annual limits must be introduced by written request duly substantiated and addressed to the Ministry of Culture.

The new bill also provides for the introduction of a new category of people who can benefit from cultural leave, namely designated volunteers. This allows cultural federations and associations to allow designated persons to benefit from cultural leave, owing to a quota of leave days available to them. This category of beneficiaries is intended above all for volunteers participating in the organisation of cultural events.

Another proposed change is the reduction of the deadline for submitting the request from three to two months.

This bill aims to promote cultural work and the professionalisation of the cultural and artistic scene, to recognise the cultural work provided and the efforts of volunteers contributing to it and to modernise the legal framework in order to adapt it to the needs of the sector.