On 27 February 2019, the LCGB trade union met with Luxembourg Minister of Social Security Romain Schneider to discuss the social security aspect of the coalition programme.
On this occasion, the LCGB presented a series of demands for the better protection of sick employees and essential improvements in the fields of sickness and maternity insurance and pension insurance.
The trade union has agreed that the extension of the legal limit from 52 to 78 weeks of sickness represents a slight improvement for employees. However, it has complained that seriously ill employees still risk the automatic termination of their employment contract at the end of the 78 weeks of sickness and therefore risk falling into precariousness because of a legal mechanism. For this reason, the LCGB has demanded the removal of any legal limit for private sector employees. This is considered even more important since the law now provides for different legal limits for the sickness benefits of employees (78 weeks) and independent workers (52 weeks).
The LCGB also reiterated the need for clarification of the missions of the medical test and occupational medicine in order to put an end to contradictory opinions. In cases where an employee is declared able to work by the medical test but unable to return to their last job due to occupational health, the employee is left without income, receiving neither a salary nor sickness benefits.
In terms of sickness and maternity insurance, the LCGB has insisted mainly on the rapid implementation of larger refunds for dental care and visual aids. The trade union also plans to continue discussions on additional measures for insured persons, particularly in the area of prevention.
In the area of pension insurance, the level of reserves currently exceeds 4.5 times the amount of annual benefits. On the basis of this, an improvement in the level of pensions is deemed necessary by the LCGB. By analogy with the projected revaluation of the minimum social wage, the LCGB has advocated for an additional adjustment of pensions in order to compensate for the losses suffered by pensioners as a result of past adjustments. For the period 2012-2017, this loss equals for each pensioner approximately the current gross amount of one month's pension. In the same context, the LCGB has demanded the abolition of the legal automatism aiming at the modulation of the readjustment of pensions, respectively the suppression of the end-of-year allowance from when the pure allocation premium exceeds the overall contribution rate of 24%.
Finally, the LCGB has advocated for the introduction of a public supplementary pension system (2nd pillar), allowing each insured person to increase the amount of their pension when in need, as well as taking into account years of study as years of contributions.
