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Introduction
In Luxembourg, the labour courts are responsible for resolving employment law disputes, with exclusive jurisdiction over all such disputes regardless of the amount at stake. The labour courts thus have sole jurisdiction over all issues arising from or in connection with employment relationships, including those related to dismissals, supplementary pension schemes and apprenticeship agreements.
There are three labour courts in Luxembourg: one in Diekirch (in the north of the country), one in Luxembourg City (the capital) and one in Esch-sur-Alzette (in the south). Each court covers all the towns and cities within its jurisdiction. To determine which court is competent to rule on a case, one must know the jurisdiction in which the employee performed their employment contract. If the employee has performed work all over Luxembourg, the Labour Court of Luxembourg City will have jurisdiction.
The parties do not need to be represented by a lawyer before the labour court. An individual may either defend themselves or be represented by a lawyer or their spouse or partner, a relative in the direct or collateral line up to the third degree, or a person from their company, as the case may be. If a party is represented by someone other than a lawyer, the representative will need a special mandate to represent one of the parties before the court.
Generally, a labour court is composed of one professional judge and two non-professional assessors.
Luxembourg procedural rules provide for certain specific cases in which labour court decisions are made by a single judge. This is the case, for instance, for requests for reinstatement of an employee if a dismissal has been declared null and void (e.g., dismissals of staff delegates or those made during a declared pregnancy, or redundancy performed in the run-up to signing a redundancy scheme ('social plan')), or for requests to receive unemployment benefits following a dismissal or resignation with immediate effect.
Except for the document introducing proceedings and any documentary proof, no written documents are submitted to the labour court, and all arguments before the court must be made orally. While for complex cases it is common practice to submit a pleading note to the opposing counsel and the judge before the hearing, the court will in principle only base its decision on what is discussed orally between the parties during the hearing.
If a party is not satisfied with a decision of the labour court, depending on the circumstances, it may oppose the judgment within 15 days or lodge an appeal up to 40 days after the notification of the judgment. While Luxembourg has three different labour courts, it has only one court of appeal, the Luxembourg Court of Appeal, which deals with all appeals against a labour court judgment. This Court has three chambers with exclusive jurisdiction over labour law disputes (one of them covering summary proceedings).
Unlike proceedings before the labour courts, proceedings before the Luxembourg Court of Appeal are made in writing and require the parties to be represented by qualified lawyers. In written proceedings, the legal arguments are expressed in written submissions called 'conclusions', which are communicated by the concluding lawyer to the opposing lawyer. Through these written submissions, the parties alternately take a position on the arguments and merits expressed by their opponent.
As proceedings before the labour courts, and especially before the Luxembourg Court of Appeal, may be cumbersome and generally take at least a few months to complete, such disputes are usually settled out of court by the signature of settlement agreements.
Finally, although Luxembourg employment law may be considered business-friendly, some Labour Code provisions create a framework more favourable to employees than employers. The underlying rationale is that employees are considered the 'weaker party' in the employment relationship by virtue of their subordination to the employer during the performance of the employment contract. Consequently, when in doubt, labour courts tend to rule in favour of employees.
As a general rule, no government bodies or quasi-government bodies assist in resolving employment disputes. In this respect, it should merely be noted that employees dismissed with a notice period are entitled to unemployment benefits in Luxembourg if they are Luxembourg residents and meet the applicable conditions. Employees residing in Luxembourg who are dismissed or have resigned with immediate effect may file a request for unemployment benefits with Luxembourg's National Employment Agency (ADEM). In cases of claims of unfair dismissal, ADEM must also be present or represented during the related court proceedings, as one of its roles is to pay unemployment benefits to employees. If the termination is declared unfair by the court, the employer will have to reimburse ADEM for unemployment benefits paid to the Luxembourg resident employee or, in the case of cross-border commuters (i.e., employees working in Luxembourg but living in a neighbouring country), the relevant national public employment service.
