Minimum Salary Level Increased

The situation

Effective August 1, 2018, the minimum gross monthly salary for foreign workers in Luxembourg has increased to EUR 2,458.25 for qualified workers and EUR 2,048.54 for unqualified workers, up 2.5 percent from last year.

A closer look

• Initial and renewal applications. Employers of foreign nationals seeking to obtain or renew a work permit on or after August 1, 2018 must increase the foreign national’s minimum salary to comply with the new rule.
• Pending applications. Employers of foreign nationals with pending work permit applications as of August 1, 2018 must increase the foreign national’s minimum salary to comply with the new rule. 
• Immigration applications that do not meet the minimum salary will be rejected.
• EU Blue Card. The change does not affect EU Blue Card applications, as these have a separate higher salary threshold.

Reminders on other requirements

• Benefits and allowances. As before, benefits and allowances may only be included if they are specified in the assignment letter / employment contract, processed through payroll for payment into the employee’s bank account, not paid in kind, paid at regular intervals throughout the assignment period (excluding one-off payments), guaranteed and fixed (excluding performance-based bonuses).
• Currency. As before, employers are required to guarantee the salary in EUR regardless of payroll location and/or exchange rate fluctuations.

This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen or send an email to [email protected].