Office heat: what Luxembourg's law says about workplace temperatures

CSV Labour Minister Georges Mischo reminded this week that a temperature above 26°C indoors is not an automatic breach of labour law. According to the Inspectorate of Labour and Mines (ITM), 26°C is only considered a benchmark for optimal comfort in office or other sedentary work.

However, as ITM specifies, in hot weather conditions - especially in summer - higher temperatures are permissible if outdoor climatic conditions warrant it.

Nevertheless, the Luxembourg Labour Code explicitly obliges employers to carry out an ongoing assessment of risks that could affect the health and safety of employees. This includes analysing the effects of abnormal heat or poor ventilation in the workplace.

If the risk is recognised as significant, the employer must take preventative measures. These include:

• ensuring a fresh air supply,
• Changes in work schedules, such as early start of shifts,
• free access to drinking water,
• Opportunity for short-term holidays in cooler areas.

Heat in the office is not always an offence, but employers have a duty to respond to conditions that endanger the health of employees. Instead of strict temperature limits, the principle of adaptive responsibility applies in Luxembourg: assess, prevent, protect. This becomes particularly relevant when summer temperatures become abnormal.