Romain Schneider Rejects Allegations re. Chambre des Salariés Contributions

Luxembourg Minister of Social Security Romain Schneider has responded to Parliamentary Question No. 473 concerning contributions levied for the benefit of the Chambre des Salariés.

Minister Schneider emphasised that, since its creation, the annual fee for the Chambre des Salariés has amounted to €31 euros. A reduced amount of €10 is nevertheless applicable for low-income employees while a contribution of €4 continues to be applied for apprentices as formerly for the Chambre de travail and Chambre des employés privés.

The deduction of the annual contribution for the Chambre des salariés is to be made by the employer on the salary paid in March or, in the absence of payment of wages, by the institution in charge of the payment of replacement income. In case of multiple employment, the Joint Social Security Centre (CCSS) charges the contribution of the Chambre des Salariés to a single employer, namely the one from whom the duration of work in March is the longest. In case of equal working time, the oldest affiliation determines the employer from which this contribution is collected.

For this purpose, the CCSS sends a statement of the employees concerned to each employer in May, when the social security contributions for the month of March are collected. This statement allows the employer to check or correct the amounts he has withheld and to make corrections to the returns to the CCSS before the final bill of contributions for the Chambre des employés in July.

The collection of contributions for the Chambre des Salariés, the terms of which are also regulated by the Grand-Ducal Regulation of 4 November 2010 determining the method of collecting contributions made by nationals of the Chamber of Employees, is therefore clearly focused, according to Minister Schneider, on the principle of a maximum annual contribution of €31 per employee.

Minister Schneider concluded that the the allegations made in the letter to the editor quoted by the Honourable Members in their parliamentary question do not reflect reality and he regretted that such accusations were published without prior verification.