Apprenticeship - Luxembourg
A two to three year training contract toward a CCP, DAP or DT, alternating between school and your company, with its own allowance scales and state aid towards the cost.
Apprenticeship allowance
Set per trade
Initial training pays the regulated allowance for the trade, while an adult apprentice earns the full minimum wage instead
The minima are set by grand-ducal regulation and must be adapted whenever an index tranche falls, even mid-contract. They are paid during school periods and annual leave too.
Duration
2-3 years
Never below one year, even where prior experience is validated
Contract window
16 July - 1 Nov.
Every apprenticeship contract is concluded inside this window
Apprentice bonus
130-150 €
Paid by the State for each month of a successful year, 130 € for CCP and 150 € for DAP and DT, on every track
After the diploma
+20%
DAP and DT holders earn the qualified minimum wage (3.325,59 €), a CCP holder after two years of practice in the trade
What the State pays towards it
27% / 40%
Promotion aid on the allowance
The Employment Fund reimburses 27% of the regulated allowance for DAP and DT training, and 40% for CCP.
100%
Employer contributions reimbursed
The employer's share of social contributions on the allowance is reimbursed by the Employment Fund.
Minimum wage gap
Adult apprentices topped up
An adult apprentice earns the full minimum wage, and the State reimburses the difference above the legal allowance.
The aids apply to initial, adult and cross-border apprenticeships alike.
Initial vs adult apprenticeship
Same training, evaluation and diploma, different pay and entry
| Initial | Adult | |
|---|---|---|
| Pay | The apprenticeship allowance set for the trade. A higher rate applies once the intermediate integrated project is passed (DAP and DT); CCP allowances vary by year and step up on 15 September on progression. | The full unskilled minimum wage (2.771,33 €) throughout the training. The State reimburses the employer the gap above the legal allowance. |
| Who it is for | Young people in the initial schooling track. | At least 18 on 1 September, out of initial schooling or an initial apprenticeship for at least 12 months, affiliated to the CCSS for at least 12 months at 16 hours a week or more, and the same academic and language conditions as the initial track. |
| Applying | Through ADEM-OP, and the contract is concluded between 16 July and 1 November. | Admission dossier at ADEM-OP between 2 May and 15 September, care professions by 31 July, then the contract inside the same 16 July to 1 November window. |
| Working time | Young-worker rules apply under 18, ordinary rules from 18. | Ordinary adult working-time rules. |
| Trades | All apprenticeship trades. | Trades organised alongside year 1 of the initial track, or with a specific adult framework programme. |
Waivers exist on the adult side: MENJE can suspend the 12-month affiliation condition on written request; a CCP holder moving to a DAP, and a DAP holder to a DT, in the same specialty skip the 12-month wait, as do moves to a complementary trade; a language or academic gap goes to an aptitude test. Prior experience can validate into an advanced year, but an apprenticeship never lasts less than one year.
Cross-border variant
Company in Luxembourg, school in the Greater Region
Some trades are trained across the border: the company part runs under a Luxembourg apprenticeship contract while the school part takes place at an approved lycée in the Greater Region, and a few courses exist only in this form. It is limited to the trades on the official list. The candidate applies in writing to MENJE's Vocational Training Service, which consults the chambers and ADEM-OP, then registers with ADEM-OP. The allowance varies by year of apprenticeship, as it does for CCP, and the employer aids apply in full.
How the allowance is set
Minima by grand-ducal regulation · index 992,24
| DAP and DT | One minimum per trade, and a higher allowance applies from the first day of the month after the apprentice is notified of passing the intermediate integrated project. |
| CCP and cross-border | The allowance varies with the year of apprenticeship, and the higher rate is due from 15 September once progression to the next year is granted. |
| Indexation | When a tranche falls after the contract is concluded, the allowance must be adapted. The per-trade tables at the applicable index come from the CSL and the professional chambers. |
| Hourly rate | The monthly allowance divided by 173. |
A collective agreement, or the employer, may always set more than the minimum.
What comes off the apprentice's payslip
Deducted by the employer
| Health | 3,05%, the care share 2,8% plus the cash sickness share 0,25%. |
| Pension | 8,5% of the allowance. |
| Dependency | 1,4%, and only on the part of the allowance above a quarter of the minimum wage (692,83 €). |
| Tax | None while the taxable amount stays below the exemption threshold of the current scale. Above it, ordinary withholding by tax class. |
The employer's own share of contributions on the allowance is reimbursed by the Employment Fund, as set out above.
Set up through ADEM, not by you alone
Apprenticeships run through ADEM's Career Guidance Service (ADEM-OP), which collects the offers and checks that your company may train. The competent employers' chamber draws up the contract for signature. Declare your vacancies to ADEM-OP; the apprentice enrols at school from 1 September.
Hosting a student for a few weeks rather than training someone for years? That is an internship, with its own rules and allowances.
Internships The qualified minimum wage a graduate earns afterwards, with the full history by year. Minimum wageFrequently asked questions
Is an apprentice paid the minimum wage?
How much is the allowance exactly?
What does the State contribute?
What comes off the apprentice's payslip?
What is the apprentice worth after the diploma?
Training an apprentice?
Salary.lu runs the apprentice's payslip at the right allowance, keeps it in step with each index tranche and handles the CCSS declarations alongside the rest of your team.