Student employees’ rights and obligations

As a student, you might want to make some extra money and gain some paid work experience. Very good idea, but do you know your rights and obligations as a student employee?

Above all, you have to take into account the difference between the holiday-only student contract and the fixed-term employment contract outside school holidays.

To draw up a student contract, you must fulfil the following conditions.

1. You are between 15 and 26 years old, are enrolled in a teaching establishment in Luxembourg or abroad and follow a regular full-time education programme. If your school registration has ended less than 4 months ago, you are still considered a pupil/student
   
   
2. You are only hired during school holidays. If you are formally enrolled in a teaching establishment abroad, the holidays of which differ from the school holidays of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, you can work under a student contract during the free periods in question.
   
   
3. You can draw up one or several student contract(s), but you can only be hired for a maximum period of 2 months per civil year (from 1 January to 31 December), or an average of 346 hours per year. If you fail to adhere to this rule, you can lose the right to receive family allowance.

The student contract offers many advantages. Your remuneration may not be lower than 80% of the social minimum wage adjusted, where applicable, according to your age (from € 1,442.22 gross per month if you are between 15 and 17 years old to € 1,538.37 gross per month [1] if you are 18 years old or over) and is tax exempt. But you are not entitled to paid leave. Even public holidays and sick days are not paid.

If you are between 15 and 26 years old and enrolled in a teaching establishment in Luxembourg, you can work outside school holidays. In this case, you are not allowed to draw up a student contract; you need to sign a fixed-term employment contract instead. In this case, you have two different statuses: a student status during school holidays and a salaried employee status outside school holidays.

Be careful: the fixed-term employment contract for students is subject to certain conditions. The weekly working time can’t exceed 10 hours on average, over a period of 1 month or 4 weeks. The contract may be renewed more than twice, without being considered as a permanent employment contract, provided that it does not exceed a total duration of 5 years.

By signing a fixed-term employment contract, you are considered a salaried employee. Your remuneration may not be lower than the social minimum wage adjusted, where applicable, according to your age (from € 355.55 to € 576.89 if you work 40 hours a month [2]). Your income is also subject to withholding tax and you must register as a salaried worker with all the social-security branches (sickness, pension, accident and long-term care insurance). However, you are entitled to paid annual leave on a prorate basis of your working hours. And, of course, public holidays and sick days are paid.

Don’t forget that if you carry out a professional activity for more than 4 months during a school year and if your gross annual salary equals or exceeds 4 times the social minimum wage (€ 1,992.96 x 4 = € 7,971.84), you lose your right to receive family allowance.

For more information, visit the Guichet Citoyens website ( https://guichet.public.lu/en/entreprises/ressources-humaines/contrat-convention/contrat-travail.html ) and the website of the Inspectorate of Labour and Mines (itm.public.lu).

[1] Index value 775.17 as of 1 January 2016

[2] Index value 775.17 as of 1 January 2016

11/2021