- Date:
- 26 Jan 2018
- By:
- Dorothée David
Free movement of workers: new provisions for equal treatment and minimum pay for highly qualified workers.
A law of 7 November 2017 (hereinafter “the Law”) has partially transposed into Luxembourg law Directive 2014/54/EU of 16 April 2014 designed to facilitate the exercising of rights granted to workers within the context of free movement. The law came into force on 1 January 2018.
This means that “nationality” is now incorporated into article L. 251-1 of the Labour Code as a criterion for direct or indirect discrimination prohibited by law. Similar provisions have also been incorporated into the general regulations for national civil servants and those for municipal civil servants. An exception to the principle of non-discrimination based on nationality has however been included in article L. 252-2 of the Labour Code regarding the conditions for the arrival, residency and employment of nationals from third party countries (in other words, other than member states, parties to the Agreement on the European Economic Area and the Swiss Federation) and stateless persons, in keeping with the applicable statutory provisions relating to the free movement of people and immigration stipulated by the modified law of 29 August 2008.
Furthermore, the Law assigns the Centre for Equal Treatment (CET) a new task, that of carrying out or commissioning independent analyses and inquiries into unjustified restrictions and obstacles to the right to free movement, and into discrimination based on nationality against workers from the European Union and members of their families. The Law also stipulates that the CET is now directly connected to the Chamber of Deputies.
A Ministerial Regulation of 30 November 2017 (hereinafter “the Regulation”) has updated the minimum pay levels for a highly qualified worker, as required by article 45 of the modified law of 29 August 2008 on the free movement of people and immigration.
According to the Regulation, Statec sets the average gross annual salary designed to determine the minimum pay for a highly qualified worker at 49,332 Euros for 2015.
So, in accordance with the applicable statutory and regulatory provisions, the minimum pay level for a highly qualified worker is set at 49,332 x 1.5 = 73,998 Euros, as of 11 December 2017, the date on which the Regulation was published in the Mémorial.
For jobs in professions belonging to groups 1 and 2 of the CITP, for which the Government identifies a particular need for workers from third-party countries, the minimum pay threshold is set at 49,332 x 1.2 = 59,198.40 Euros as of 11 December 2017.
Ministerial regulation of 30 November 2017
