What if my employee took more leave than allowed?
If an employee has taken more leave days than they are entitled to, this situation needs to be handled carefully in accordance with Luxembourg labour law.
Understanding leave entitlements
In Luxembourg, employees are entitled to a minimum of 26 working days of annual leave (based on a standard full-time 5-day work week). Part-time employees receive leave entitlements proportional to their working hours.
The employer's rights
If you as an employer granted an employee more paid leave than they were actually entitled to, you have the right to ask them to pay back the salary received for those extra days. The employee is legally obligated to reimburse this amount.
However - and this is important - you cannot simply deduct this amount from the employee's next salary.
Why can't I deduct it directly from the salary?
Luxembourg law strictly limits the cases in which an employer may make a direct salary deduction to only four situations:
- Fines imposed on the employee under the Labour Code or internal company regulations
- Compensation for damage caused by the employee's own fault or gross negligence
- Recovery of costs for tools, equipment, or materials provided to the employee for their work
- Repayment of cash advances made outside of the normal employment contract
Since excess leave does not fall under any of these four cases, a direct salary deduction is not legally permitted.
What should you do instead?
You must formally request reimbursement from the employee in writing for the amount corresponding to the extra leave days taken. If the employee refuses to reimburse the amount, you can take the matter to court to enforce your claim.
What if I deduct it anyway?
If you make a salary deduction that is not permitted by law, the employee can take legal action and claim back the withheld amount - and you would be ordered to reimburse it. That said, in the same legal proceedings, you would be able to counter-claim the excess leave pay, and the employee would ultimately also be ordered to pay it back. The end result would be the same, but going through court is costly and avoidable.
Prevention for the future
- Make sure employees always have visibility of their leave balance before approving requests
- Regularly review leave records on Salary.lu
- Put a clear leave approval process in place to avoid misunderstandings
- Communicate your leave policy clearly to all staff
For more information, consult the official ITM resources:
- ITM D4d6 – Can the employer make a salary deduction for excess leave? https://itm.public.lu/fr/questions-reponses/droit-travail/remuneration/d/d6.html
- ITM D4a20 – What is the prescription period for recovering overpaid salary? https://itm.public.lu/fr/questions-reponses/droit-travail/remuneration/a/a20.html
Updated on: 02/06/2026
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