KawiParents guide · parental leave
Parental leave in Luxembourg: how much you will get, and how to apply.
Parental leave lets you stop or reduce work to care for your child, with a replacement income. Each parent is entitled to it. The calculator below gives you the gross amount for every possible option, then we explain the rules without jargon. And when your child starts school, our guide to précoce takes over.
Estimated gross amount, by option
Estimate of the gross amount. The exact amount is set by the Zukunftskeess (formerly CAE). Overtime does not count.
The options, depending on your working hours
What you can choose depends on the hours in your contract when you notify your employer:
- Full-time (40 hours): 4 or 6 months off work, 8 or 12 months half-time, 1 day a week for 20 months, or 4 months off spread over 20 months.
- 20 hours or more: 4 or 6 months off work, or 8 or 12 months half-time.
- 10 hours or more, apprenticeship, or several employers: 4 or 6 months off work.
Full-time leave is a right. Half-time and split leave need your employer's agreement. The details are on the official page on the options.
Parental leave is only one of the steps around a new baby: registering the birth, maternity leave, birth leave and the grants are brought together in our guide to having a baby in Luxembourg, in order.
Who is entitled
You must have worked in Luxembourg continuously for the 12 months before the leave (with at most 7 days of interruption), have one or more contracts totalling at least 10 hours a week, and stay under contract for the whole leave. During a trial period, you have to wait until it ends. The leave is personal: it cannot be passed to the other parent.
The first and the second leave
The first leave is taken by one parent straight after maternity leave (or adoption leave). It must be requested from the employer at least 2 months before maternity leave starts, otherwise the right is lost.
The second leave is taken by the other parent, at the same time or later, but it must start before the child turns 6. It is requested at least 4 months before, and the employer can sometimes postpone it. A parent raising a child alone does not have to take it right after the birth. The two official sources: the Zukunftskeess and guichet.lu.
Your calendar, from the due date
What you will actually receive
The amount is based on your average gross salary over the 12 months before the leave, without overtime. It cannot fall below the minimum social wage or go above 5/3 of it (these limits are lower if you work fewer than 40 hours). It is a gross amount: social contributions and tax are deducted as for a salary, and you receive a new tax card. For an idea of the net, the government tax calculator helps, and the official calculator confirms the gross. Family allowance keeps being paid during the leave: here are the amounts and our calculator.
These limits follow wage indexation: we update the calculator when they change.
Daycare during the leave
Something that surprises many parents: during full-time leave, your child should only go to daycare or the maison relais exceptionally, for example a few hours to settle in, and after informing the fund in writing. Otherwise you may have to pay back the whole allowance. And to see what daycare will cost afterwards: our chèque-service accueil calculator.
During the leave, the first words.
Kawi introduces 3 to 6-year-olds to Luxembourgish through play, with a parent alongside.