Mandatory time recording in Luxembourg: what employers must record and prove

Is time recording mandatory in Luxembourg?

Yes: every employer must record its employees' working time. Article L.211-29 of the Labour Code (Code du travail) requires the employer to enter, in a special register or file, the start, end and length of each working day, every extension of normal working time, hours worked on Sundays, public holidays or at night, and the amounts paid for them. The register must be shown to officers of the Labour and Mines Inspectorate (Inspection du travail et des mines, ITM) whenever they ask.

The law imposes neither a time clock nor a format: a paper register, a spreadsheet or software will do, as long as they contain these entries. Keep it up to date day by day rather than rebuilding it at the end of the month. The ITM publishes an optional register template that provides, for each employee and each day, the start and end of the working day and of the break, total hours, overtime, Sunday, public holiday and night hours, premiums and leave, with a monthly total.

Who is covered?

In principle all employees, teleworkers included: the Labour Code makes no exception to the register for remote work. The working time title, register included, does not apply to people in genuine management positions or to senior executives whose presence is essential to run and supervise the business; Article L.211-3 also provides a few limited exclusions, such as family businesses and travelling sales representatives for their work outside the establishment. Senior executives who meet the conditions of Article L.211-27 (a clearly higher salary, real management power, wide freedom over their hours) are only excluded from the overtime compensation and pay rules.

What does the Court of Justice of the European Union say?

In judgment C-55/18 of 14 May 2019, the Court requires Member States to make employers set up an objective, reliable and accessible system that measures each worker's daily working time. Luxembourg already does so through Article L.211-29, unchanged since 2017.

Which working hours and rest periods must the register let you check?

The register is how you prove that the limits set by the Labour Code are respected.

Which time counts?

Working time is the time during which the employee is at the employer's disposal (Art. L.211-4). According to the ITM, it includes putting on safety clothing or a compulsory uniform at the workplace, travel from head office or a meeting point to a site in a company vehicle, guard and duty periods, and compulsory training, which takes place during working time. On-call duty (astreinte) does not count in principle, unless its constraints are very heavy (European case law of 2021).

Sunday work in retail: what changed on 1 January 2026

The Act of 19 December 2025 amended Article L.231-4 for retail and craft businesses. Headcount is assessed on 31 December of the previous year, and these hours go into the register, like public holiday hours (Art. L.231-10 and L.232-8).

Work organisation plan, reference period or flexitime: how to organise working time?

The register reflects the chosen organisation, which also sets the overtime threshold: fixed hours, a reference period with a work organisation plan (plan d'organisation du travail, POT), or flexitime.

Reference period and POT

Without a collective agreement, the business may adopt a reference period of up to 4 months, after informing and consulting the staff delegation. The decision applies one month later at the earliest, runs for 24 months, renews tacitly and must be notified to the ITM within the month in which it takes effect (Art. L.211-6).

The POT covers at least one month, or the whole reference period if it is shorter. It is drawn up no later than 5 clear days before the period starts, submitted to the staff delegation for its opinion no later than 5 days before it comes into force, and communicated to employees. On pain of nullity, it states the start and end of the period and of the POT, normal working hours (hours per day and per week, start and end of the working day), closing days, public holidays and leave, and the 44-hour weekly rest (Art. L.211-7).

If the employer changes the POT less than 3 days before the event without increasing total hours, the hours that exceed the original schedule by more than 2 hours are compensated at 1.2 hours per hour worked and count as overtime for tax and social security purposes (Art. L.211-7).

Flexitime

Flexitime replaces the POT. It is introduced by collective agreement or by agreement with the staff delegation (failing that, with the employees). The business must then have a system that keeps an exact count of the hours worked, and the delegation receives the overall time statements for each organisational unit (Art. L.211-8). To turn these hours into pay, see From time clock to payroll.

Badge reader, app, geolocation: which data protection rules and what role for the staff delegation?

A time recording tool processes personal data: the staff delegation is informed before it is deployed, and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applies.

• Prior information: the employer informs the staff delegation (failing that, the ITM) of the purpose and arrangements of the processing, how long the data will be kept or the criteria used, and formally undertakes not to use the data for any other purpose (Art. L.261-1). Within 15 days, the delegation may ask for the prior opinion of the National Data Protection Commission (Commission nationale pour la protection des données, CNPD), which suspends the project; the opinion is given within one month.
• Delegation agreement from 150 employees: introducing technical installations designed to monitor employees' behaviour and performance requires its agreement (Art. L.414-9). Depending on its functions, a time recording tool may fall within this: discuss it with the delegation. Below that threshold, the delegation gives its opinion on working time matters (Art. L.414-3).
• Employees and record of processing: each employee is informed of the processing (Art. 13 GDPR), which is entered in the record of processing activities.
• Impact assessment: the CNPD requires one for regular and systematic monitoring of employees' activities that may significantly affect them.
• Service provider: if it hosts the data, a processing agreement under Article 28 GDPR is mandatory.

Biometrics

The GDPR prohibits in principle the processing of biometric data to uniquely identify a person, subject to limited exceptions (Art. 9). The CNPD states that biometrics should be given up when identification can be achieved just as effectively and securely by less intrusive means, such as a badge or a code.

Geolocation

According to the CNPD, tracking working time by geolocation is only allowed where no other means, such as ordinary time recording, can do it (for example, a sales representative who never comes to the office). In principle no permanent tracking, and no tracking at all outside working hours; if the vehicle is also used privately, the employee must be able to switch the device off. Consent is not a valid legal basis, and an impact assessment is required. The data may be kept for 2 months at most in principle, or 3 years at most when used to check working time.

Right to disconnect: what obligation and what fine since 4 July 2026?

As soon as employees use digital tools for work, the employer must define a scheme for disconnecting outside working time (Art. L.312-9, introduced by the Act of 28 June 2023). Since 4 July 2026, having no such scheme can lead to an administrative fine of €251 to €25,000 (Art. L.312-10).

• Who sets it: a collective agreement or a subordinate agreement; failing that, the business, after informing and consulting the staff delegation, and by agreement with it from 150 employees (Art. L.414-9).
• What it must respect: the rules on working time and rest periods.
• How the fine is imposed: by the Director of the ITM, after an inspector's finding and an injunction procedure.

The business's right-to-disconnect scheme also applies to teleworkers: see Remote work.

What are the penalties and how long should records be kept?

The ITM may enter workplaces without notice where there is sufficient evidence or legitimate grounds, and may require all registers relating to working conditions (Art. L.614-3 and L.614-4).

How long should the register be kept?

No legal text sets a retention period for the register under Article L.211-29; only road transport requires the registers of mobile workers to be kept for at least 2 years (Art. L.214-7). Two official benchmarks guide your choice: pay claims become time-barred after 3 years (Art. L.221-2), and the ITM points out that pay documents, like accounting records, are kept for 10 years (Art. 16 of the Commercial Code). As a precaution, keep time records for at least 3 years, since an employee can claim unpaid overtime during that period. Set this period, tell the staff delegation, then delete or anonymise the data, as the GDPR requires.

Common mistakes

• Copying the contractual schedule. The register covers the actual start, end and length of each working day, not the planned hours.
• Excluding too many "managers". Among managers, only genuine management positions and senior executives essential to running and supervising the business fall outside the register; a "manager's flat rate" without the conditions of Art. L.211-27 leaves overtime payable.
• Forgetting time that counts: putting on a compulsory uniform on site, required travel from head office or a meeting point in the company vehicle, guard and duty periods.
• Reusing data for another purpose. Geolocation installed against theft cannot be used to check working hours, and the employee's consent does not make an intrusive tool lawful.
• Deploying a tool without informing the staff delegation, without an impact assessment where one is required, or with biometric identification when a badge would do.
• Forgetting the right-to-disconnect scheme. Since 4 July 2026, not having one can cost €251 to €25,000.

Your checklist

• Check that every covered employee has a recorded start, end, breaks and length of work for each day.
• Classify overtime, Sunday, public holiday and night hours, and record the amounts paid for them.
• Document how working time is organised: fixed hours, POT (5-day deadlines, delegation opinion, reference period notified to the ITM) or flexitime.
• Inform the staff delegation, or failing that the ITM, before deploying a badge reader, an app or geolocation, and obtain its agreement from 150 employees if the tool monitors behaviour or performance.
• Inform each employee, enter the processing in the record of processing activities and carry out an impact assessment where the CNPD requires one.
• Define and circulate the right-to-disconnect scheme.
• Set a retention period for time records (as a precaution, at least 3 years), then delete or anonymise.
• Be ready to show the register to the ITM without delay.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

• Labour Code, consolidated version of 26 July 2026, Art. L.211-29 et seq. (Legilux, in French)
• ITM, FAQ D5a15: working time register (in French)
• ITM, working time register template (in French)
• ITM, FAQ D5a12: guard duty, standby and on-call time (in French)
• Act of 19 December 2025 amending Art. L.231-4 of the Labour Code (Legilux, in French)
• Court of Justice of the European Union, press release No 61/19, case C-55/18 (in French)
• CNPD, biometrics and privacy (in French)
• CNPD, processing operations requiring an impact assessment (in French)
• CNPD, vehicle geolocation: necessity and proportionality (in French)
• ITM, FAQ D4a22: keeping pay documents (in French)

This guide sets out the general rules in force on 5 October 2026. It is not legal advice for your situation (collective agreement, sector, employee status).