On Tuesday 24 March 2026, the Luxembourg Business Federation (UEL) issued a press release in which it urged the Luxembourg Government to “act responsibly” in relation to any decision relating to the increase of the minimum social wage.
The UEL said: “In the current socio-economic context, any political increase in the minimum social wage would have immediate and severe consequences for business competitiveness and employment.”
The UEL stated that in accordance with the Directive on minimum wages, it called for “a clear, objective method based on national indicators” in order to assess the adequacy of the minimum social wage and stressed that no increase should be considered without “rigorous analysis”, to ensure the sustainability of the economy and to protect employment in the long term.
The federation highlighted Luxembourg’s recent lack of economic growth, a slowdown in job creation in the commercial sector and an increase of more than 50% in unemployment, all combined with declining productivity for more than ten years and the likely economic impact from the ongoing crisis in the Middle East.
The UEL and its members called on the government to “take this reality into account and to make responsible decisions in order to preserve employment and the country’s competitiveness”.
In relation to the minimum social wage, the federation stated that responses to the challenge of living on the minimum social wage in Luxembourg must come from social policy measures and must not result in an additional burden on companies already weakened by the current economic conditions. To this, the UEL stressed that it could not understand how, in such a context, the government might consider “further amplifying a wage spiral that is destructive to jobs in the private sector” and highlighted that any increase would be a political choice and that Luxembourg already has the highest statutory minimum wage in the European Union.
The UEL has proposed a procedure for assessing the adequacy and updating of the minimum social wage based on indicative reference values and national criteria, which would replace the current biennial increase, and would factor in socio-economic conditions as a whole. The UEL also recommended the establishment of a specific commission for the subject of the minimum social wage, composed of experts and relevant stakeholders.
In closing the UEL said: “The objective is to place the debate on the minimum social wage within a clear framework in order to enable an objective discussion based on relevant reference values specific to Luxembourg, while avoiding political misuse and distortion. Pending the implementation of such a procedure, no discretionary increase in the minimum social wage should take place, apart from the automatic indexation of wages which will occur in the coming months. It will be for a [proposed] future commission to rule on the adequacy of the minimum social wage and any potential adjustment based on objective socio-economic criteria.”
