Labor Law
Ok, here we go. Everybody applying with Cargolux should be aware of the legal framework of Luxembourg. As a member of the EU there are still some differences in the natinal labour law which governs the employment contract that are interesting.
In Luxembourg a comprehensive protection against dismissals does not exist. Unlike other neighboring countries (Belgium, France) in Luxembourg the employer can always terminate an employment contract if he wants to. Regular notice period on a permanent contract (less than five years) is 1 month. You are only protected against dismissal if you are sick (during the sick period), pregnant or a member of the employee-delegation. Other protection does not exist.
Sick leave: If you are on sick leave the national health insurance will cover your salary for a certain period of time (appr 6 month). After that you will still receive money, but the amount is capped to appr. 5500 Euros per month. Hence, If you are a senior captain you will loose between 30 - 50% of your net income.
Sick leave 2: If you are on long term sick leave for more than 26 weeks you are not protected against dismissal anymore. This means that the employer can fire you at will. If you are sick for 52 weeks within 104 weeks your employment contract is automatically terminated. Even if your employer wants to keep you. This has happened regularly in the past.
Sick leave 3: If you are on sick leave you are basically not allowed to leave your house. Although there are certain exceptions (visiting a doctor, etc...) there is a general house arrest that is strictly enforced. The health insurance uses inspectors that will visit your home to verify that you do not violate this requirement. In the past these inspectors were aided by private investigators (hired by Cargolux?) that were observed spying on pilots on sick leave and their families. Wives bringing their children to a daycare facility were questioned, homes photographed, etc. In 2015 this lead to the dismissal of four pilots. One pilot who was on sick leave for a flu went to a home appliance store, was photographed and dismissed. So far (3 years later) the courts held up the dismissals in all four cases.
Labor Courts: In Luxembourg the court system works rather slowly. The pilots dismissed in 2015 had to wait more than 18 months for the first court hearing. 18 months without salary and without a job. This is normal in Luxembourg. At the same time, legal representation is pretty expensive, lawyers charge between 350 and 500 Euros per hour. As discussed earlier, so far, the courts held up all dismissals.
These are the main topics for new pilots in Luxembourg. If you come from Belgium, Germany or the Netherlands you need to be aware of these differences.
A good source for further reading is the "guichet". Just google the term, the information is available in several languages.