Affiliation
A person can be hired by a private household to carry out household chores, look after a child or provide care and assistance for a dependent person. A private household, as a host family, can also host an au pair.
The private household/host family then becomes the employer of the person hired and must complete the necessary formalities with the Social Security Centre (Centre commun de la sécurité sociale - CCSS) to affiliate the person to the social security system.
There are four categories of occupation:
- persons hired to carry out household chores or look after a child;
- employed caregivers hired to provide care and assistance to a dependent person;
- informal caregivers providing care and assistance to a family member or relative;
- au pairs.
After the CCSS has registered their affiliation, the person hired by a private household receives a letter confirming their affiliation at the Luxembourg social security system.
Social security number
For any person hired by a private household who does not have a social security number (13-digit number), the employer or host family must provide a copy of the person's identity document along with the application for affiliation form so that the CCSS can affiliate them, i.e. create the 13-digit identification number for the person hired.
Persons hired to perform household chores or look after a child
Persons hired by a private household to perform household chores or look after a child must be affiliated at the Luxembourg social security system. They will be covered for the following risks:
- illness-maternity with the National Health Fund (Caisse nationale de santé - CNS);
- pension with the National Pension Insurance Fund (Caisse nationale d'assurance pension - CNAP);
- work accident with the Accident Insurance Association (Association d'assurance accident - AAA);
- dependency.
The employee newly affiliated with the Luxembourg social security system receives a social security card.
Employed caregivers hired to provide care and assistance for a dependent person
An employed caregiver is paid for the care assistance they provide to a dependent person. They are affiliated with the Luxembourg social security system and covered for the following risks:
- illness-maternity with the National Health Fund (Caisse nationale de santé - CNS);
- pension with the National Pension Insurance Fund (Caisse nationale d'assurance pension - CNAP);
- work accident with the Accident Insurance Association (Association d'assurance accident - AAA);
- dependency.
For employed caregivers, the care insurance takes over the pension insurance contributions up to the amount of the minimum wage as long as:
- the National Health Fund (Caisse nationale de santé - CNS) has given its agreement in the form of a 'decision containing a summary of cover';
- the caregiver is not receiving a personal pension.
The employed caregiver newly affiliated with the Luxembourg social security system receives a social security card.
Informal caregivers providing care and assistance to a family member or relative
An informal caregiver is not paid for the care and assistance they provide to the dependent person. They are affiliated with the Luxembourg social security system but are only covered for the pension risk by the National Pension Insurance Fund (Caisse nationale de pension - CNAP).
For informal caregivers, the care insurance covers the pension insurance contributions at the minimum wage level as long as:
- the National Health Fund (Caisse nationale de santé - CNS) has given its agreement in the form of a 'decision containing a summary of cover';
- the caregiver is not receiving a personal pension.
Au pairs
The au pair is affiliated to the Luxembourg social security system by the host family. The host family must provide the CCSS with a copy of the ministerial accreditation issued to the host family and a copy of the ministerial approval of the au pair.
The au pair is then covered for the following risks:
- illness-healthcare (benefits in kind) with the CNS;
- work accident with the AAA.
The CCSS calculates the illness-healthcare and accident contributions payable by the host family on a monthly basis.
The au pair newly affiliated with the Luxembourg social security system receives a social security card.
Disaffiliation from the Luxembourg social security system
If the employment relationship ends, the employer, i.e. the private household, must disaffiliate the employed person. The person will receive a confirmation certifying their disaffiliation from the Luxembourg social security system for this job.
Information on voluntary health insurance or voluntary pension insurance can be found in the 'voluntarily insured individuals' section.
The au pair's affiliation ends automatically on the date specified in the application for affiliation form.
Work accident
If a person employed in a private household has a work accident, they must inform their employer immediately. The employer must declare the accident to the Accident Insurance Association (Association d’assurance accident - AAA).
Further information for persons hired to carry out household chores or look after a child and for employed caregivers
Compulsory medical check-up
All persons newly hired by a private household must undergo a medical check-up with the Occupational Health Service (Service de santé au travail - (STM) practitioner. The purpose of this medical check-up is to determine whether the candidate is fit to do the job in the private household. This medical check-up is required whatever the type of job. The application for a medical check-up must be made by the employer.
Absences / Incapacity for work
If sick for 1 or 2 days, the employee must inform their employer (the private household) and the National Health Fund (Caisse nationale de santé - CNS) by telephone. If the illness lasts 3 days or more, the employee must send their medical certificate to the CNS and hand a copy to their employer.
The employer continues to pay the salary as if the employee had been working. The CNS sends a special form to the employer who must indicate the hours of sick leave. On the basis of this declaration, the CNS will reimburse the employer.
In case of maternity or adoption leave or exemption from work, the CNS pays directly the employee.
Declare wages
When making the declaration to the Social Security Centre (Centre commun de la sécurité sociale - CCSS), the employer must indicate the net hourly wage rate or net monthly salary as well as the number of working hours per week of the person working in their private household.
On the basis of this declaration, the CCSS calculates the gross salary and determines the amount of the social security contributions as well as the amount of the 10 % flat-rate tax. The CCSS then bills the private household for the employer's share and the employee's share.
Semi-annual verification of the registered declarations
At the end of each semester, the CCSS sends a document to the private household and the employee detailing the average number of hours worked and the net hourly wage. The gross monthly salary and monthly contributions are indicated on the reverse side of the document sent to the employer.
The employer and the employee can therefore check the data and report any significant changes to the CCSS.
Flat-rate tax and tax credit
Given that the simplified procedure for private households provides for a 10 % flat-rate tax payable to the CCSS, the person employed in the private household will not receive a tax card from the Luxembourg Inland Revenue (Administration des contributions directes - ACD) for their jobs at private households.
However, in March each year, a wage certificate for the previous year is automatically issued by the CCSS to the employee, private household and employed caregiver to serve as a supporting document to be provided to the Luxembourg Inland Revenue (Administration des contributions directes - ACD).
Employees in private households and employed caregivers who are affiliated with the CCSS under the simplified system procedure for household staff may be entitled to tax credit for employees and minimum wage tax credit. In this case, the tax credits are paid by the CCSS.
Pension and pension insurance record statement
The National Pension Insurance Fund (Caisse nationale d’assurance pension - CNAP) is the organisation that calculates the pension. Every year, the CCSS provides all persons employed in a private household, except for au pairs, with a pension insurance record statement detailing all the income recorded in Luxembourg. The person concerned must inform the CCSS as soon as possible of any errors they find in this statement.