Workers on Holiday Still Checking Emails: New Luxembourg Law Targets Employer Practices
23.06.2026 - 04:05:33 | boerse-global.de
Nearly half of employees regularly check their work emails or answer calls while on annual leave. A survey by the Austrian career platform karriere.at, conducted among roughly 1,000 participants, found that 45 percent of respondents remain digitally reachable during their vacation. Another 28 percent stay on standby for emergencies.
The urge to stay connected is especially strong among managers: 61 percent of them monitor their professional correspondence while away. Only 14 percent of all survey participants disconnect completely during time off.
The findings underscore why Luxembourg is introducing enforceable rules on employee non?reachability. Starting 4 July 2026, every employer in the Grand Duchy must prove they have implemented a clear policy governing contact outside working hours. The law, originally passed in summer 2023, will be enforced by the Labour and Mines Inspectorate (ITM). Companies without a compliant concept face administrative fines from 251 euros up to a maximum of 25,000 euros.
The obligation applies to all firms regardless of size. Written statements alone are insufficient. Employers must introduce concrete measures: technical restrictions limiting digital accessibility, staff awareness programs, and provisions for exceptions along with corresponding compensation. The aim is to protect workers’ mental health.
Austria’s trade union federation (ÖGB) has stated plainly that employees do not have to be reachable in their free time unless on?call duty has been explicitly agreed.
Luxembourg is not acting in isolation. In the Canadian province of Ontario, businesses with more than 25 employees have been required to maintain written non?reachability policies since 2021. Australia introduced a formal right for workers to refuse out?of?hours contact in August 2024.
German courts are also grappling with the tension between availability and recovery. In early March 2026, the Thuringia Regional Labour Court ruled that a blanket restriction of annual leave to a maximum of two consecutive weeks is unlawful. At the same time, Germany’s Federal Labour Court (BAG) drew a clear boundary in a December 2025 decision. On 4 December 2025, the judges held that an employer may contact a worker during leave – for instance, for an urgent preliminary hearing to preserve statutory dismissal deadlines in cases of serious allegations. No absolute prohibition on contact exists in such exceptional situations.
