Youth leave

General information

Anyone in charge of youth activities, whether an employee, self-employed or a professional, may request youth leave, a special paid leave of up to 60 days over the course of their professional career.

Youth leave enables people in charge of youth activities to take part in workshops, study days/weeks, camps or holiday camps aimed at young people in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

The activities may take place in the Grand Duchy or abroad.

In order to obtain youth leave, employees of the private or public sector must:

• be habitually employed within the Grand Duchy,
• have an employment contract with a company or association that is legally based and active in the Grand Duchy.

Self-employed people and those pursuing liberal professions must have been affiliated with Luxembourg social security and have had their professional residence in Luxembourg for at least 2 years.

Eligible activities

Training

• Leadership training courses approved by the Minister with responsibility for youth
• International training courses and seminars offered under the Erasmus+ / Youth in Action programme by the Council of Europe's Youth Department
• International training courses and seminars organised by international organisations to which national bodies approved by the Minister with responsibility for youth are affiliated
• Training courses for leaders in the cultural field that involve supervising young people, on condition that they are organised by a body contracted with or approved by the Minister of Culture

Educational activities

• Holiday camps, camps or other leisure activities
• International competitions, including preparation for such competitions
• Music workshops, orchestra tours
• Creative workshops
• Sports events, training camps, tournaments

on condition that they are for young people and are organised by:

• a body approved by or contracted with the Grand Duchy's Minister with responsibility for youth, education, culture, sport, or the Minister with responsibility for family
• a grouping affiliated to a federation recognised by the Grand Duchy's Minister with responsibility for youth, education, culture and sport, or its Minister with responsibility for families
• a public service, fundamental school or secondary school in the Grand Duchy
• a municipal service in the Grand Duchy

Procedure

The National Youth Service (Service national de la jeunesse - SNJ) must receive the request for youth leave 3 weeks prior to the start of the activity.

An employee requesting youth leave must:

• download the form, complete the appropriate section and, where appropriate, add a copy of the training certificate he/she may hold in relation to working with young people,
• obtain his/her employer's opinion regarding the request,
• send the form to the organiser (association or federation) of the training course or activity, which certifies by its signature that the applicant is a participant, and must add the programme to the request,
• send the form either by e-mail or by post to the National Youth Service.

Employee and employer are notified by post of the number of days of leave granted. After the training course/activity, the employee must give the corresponding certificate(s) of participation to his/her employer.

The employer must:

• give its opinion on the request submitted by the employee,
• download and complete the reimbursement form, and attach the documents requested,
• send the duly completed form and the required documents either by e-mail or by post to the National Youth Service.

The procedure for self-employed people and those pursuing liberal professions is similar to the one described above. Instead of a pay slip, they must send a certificate of the amount of income taken into account for the last contributions year (1 January to 31 December); this certificate can be obtained from the Joint Social Security Centre (Centre Commun de la Sécurité Sociale - CCSS).

Negative opinion from the employer

The leave can be deferred if the absence sought may have a considerably harmful effect on company operations or the smooth running of annual paid leave for staff.

Number of days and duration

Calculating the number of days

• For holders of an Assistant Leader/Leader certificate (or equivalent qualification*), the number of days of leave granted for youth leave depends on the duration of the training course/activity.
• For people who do not meet these criteria and who wish to attend a training course on organising and supervising workshops or educational activities for young people, only two-thirds of the number of days spent working with young people can be covered by youth leave.

Part-days that are covered are rounded up to the next whole number.

^{* Certificates recognised as equivalent to the (Assistant) Leader certificate}

• Specific training courses:
• sport and leisure leader
• coach with specific training for coaching young people
• social and family assistant (children and family module)
• Professional training courses in the educational field:
• graduate social education worker, qualified social education worker
• teacher (primary and secondary school)
• educator
• socio-educational officer
• DAP Education
• Qualifications recognised in other countries:
• BAFA (F)
• Juleika (D)

Duration

• The maximum duration of youth leave is 60 days for each beneficiary throughout his/her professional career.
• Up to 20 days of youth leave can be granted over a two-year period.
• The leave can be divided up into periods of a minimum of two days, unless it is for a consistent series of classes lasting for just one day each.

For part-time employees, youth leave days are calculated as a proportion of working time.

Youth leave cannot be added to legal annual leave or to a period of sickness if the accumulated leave constitutes a continuous absence of more than three weeks.

The legal provisions relating to social security and employment protection remain applicable for the duration of the youth leave.

Compensatory allowance

For employees, each day of leave granted entitles the beneficiary to a compensatory allowance equal to his/her average daily salary paid by the employer. The employer advances the allowance and is reimbursed by the State for the amount of the allowance and for the employer's share of social security contributions.

For self-employed people and those pursuing liberal professions the compensatory allowance paid by the State is based on the income used during the last contributions year as the basis for calculating contributions to the pension insurance scheme.

The compensatory allowance may not exceed four times the minimum wage for unqualified workers (10 283.72 euros / index 944.43 at 1 January 2024).