If you had the power to remove a rule or obligation from Luxembourg texts, which one would disappear first? For the New Year, Paperjam asked nine of the country’s HR managers to pick from their wish boxes. This is the first part of a three-part series. On Wednesday, we’ll be asking them to choose a measure that will immediately improve the quality of life or progress of their staff in 2026. On Thursday: what radical but realistic decision would transform the way they recruit, retain or train?
—Our witnesses: Delphine Bath (chief HR officer, La Mondiale Europartner), (HR director, marketing, communication and ESG, Raiffeisen), (head of human resources, LuxSE), (head of people & culture, KPMG Luxembourg), Christelle Noel (senior HR marketing project manager, Dussmann), (head of HR Europe, Pictet), Karine Rollot (DRH, Hôpitaux Robert Schuman), Olivier Schmitt (DRH, Centre hospitalier de Luxembourg), Myriam Sibenaler (head of HR, ABBL).
Sickness and “administrative overcomplexity”
If he had a magic eraser, Christopher Frères, head of human resources at LuxSE, would abolish “the automatic termination of the employment contract after 78 weeks of sickness”. “This rule seems to me to be particularly unfair”, he explains, “especially for employees suffering from serious illnesses such as cancer, which is becoming increasingly common and affecting younger and younger people. The recovery process for these illnesses does not always take place within the time limits set by current legislation. By removing this rule, we could offer better protection and more tailored support to employees facing major health challenges, allowing them to focus on their recovery without the added pressure of losing their jobs.”
Less paperwork, more meaning. That would already be a small revolution.
For Dussmann’s senior HR marketing project manager, Christelle Noel, it would be “redundant administrative overcomplexity, in particular the obligations to report or provide multiple supporting documents relating to the same HR, social or training information”. These rules, she believes, “consume an enormous amount of energy without creating any real value, either for companies or for employees, and distract HR teams from their primary role: supporting people, developing skills and securing career paths. Less paperwork, more meaning. That would already be a small revolution.”
Voting rights and administrative proof
“If I had the power, I would not abolish a technical or administrative rule, but rather a structural democratic limit: the absence of voting rights for non-Luxembourg residents in national elections,” suggests Laurent Derkum, head of HR, marketing, communication and ESG at Raiffeisen. “In Luxembourg,” he illustrates, “almost half of the resident population and an essential part of the workforce contribute every day to the creation of value, the financing of the social model and the economic vitality of the country, without however being fully represented at democratic level. This situation creates a growing gap between those who keep the economy going and those who decide the rules that govern it. Introducing residents’ voting rights would provide a more balanced representation of Luxembourg society, which today is largely influenced by the logics and priorities of the public sector.”
“It’s not a question of pitting civil servants against private-sector employees, but of recognising that decisions about work, taxation, housing or competitiveness would benefit from reflecting the real diversity of the country’s driving forces,” continues the HR director. “In a profoundly European, open and interconnected state, strengthening the democratic inclusion of residents would be a strong signal: that of a Luxembourg that aligns its political governance with its economic and social reality.”
A modern society […] should not be constantly asking its stakeholders to justify that they exist.
Head of HR Europe at Pictet, Lise Roda would like to see “the very principle of repeated administrative proof” disappear. “A modern society should not operate on suspicion by default, nor should it constantly ask its players to justify that they exist,” she explains. “In 2026, professional identity should be an invisible, digital and sovereign infrastructure, not a succession of forms, signatures and checks inherited from another century. By abandoning these 20th century administrative rituals, we would not only be saving time: we would be profoundly changing our relationship to trust, we would have turned a corner, not just administrative or regulatory.”
Flexibility, I write your name!
Head of people & culture at KPMG Luxembourg, Géraldine Hassler “would start with the employer’s obligation to keep a detailed daily record of working hours, indicating the start and end of the day, as well as the start and end of the lunch break. This obligation, which originated in Luxembourg labour law, is now particularly rigid and ill-suited to new forms of organisation, such as hybrid working, teleworking, flexible working hours and results-based working. It is based on a logic of strict time control, inherited from a traditional model, whereas many functions are now performed with greater autonomy and flexibility.”
“Removing this constraint,” concludes Géraldine Hassler, “would modernise the legal framework, reduce the administrative burden for employers and better reflect the reality of contemporary work, while of course preserving the essential protections for employees in terms of working hours, rest and health.”
Indexation, while obviously still much appreciated by employees, is rarely credited to the employer.
“Work in the banking sector has changed profoundly in recent years, driven by digitalisation, new ways of working together and increased expectations of flexibility. In this context, I would make it a priority to remove rules that are no longer in tune with these new realities, particularly those that hinder the flexible organisation of work,” says Myriam Sibenaler, head of HR at the ABBL. “The texts would benefit from evolving to better support these transformations and provide a balanced response to the current expectations of employers and employees alike.”
Teleworking and greater flexibility
Same microphone sound from Karine Rollot, HR Director at Robert Schuman Hospitals: “I don’t think we need to do away with any specific rule or obligation in Luxembourg texts. The real issue lies rather in simplifying and making the organisation of working time more flexible. The proliferation of rigid and often complex rules creates insecurity and even incomprehension for both employers and employees. Simplifying the legal framework would clarify everyone’s rights and obligations, reduce the risk of litigation and provide better support for changing forms of work, without weakening worker protection.”
“In addition, the legal framework lacks flexibility and does not take sufficient account of the diversity of individual situations. A more adaptable work organisation and more flexible teleworking rules would promote a better work-life balance and strengthen social cohesion,” says the HR director. “Greater flexibility for businesses is an essential competitive lever, enabling them to adapt to fluctuations in activity while minimising the costs generated by bureaucratic administrative management. Making these rules more flexible would be genuine social progress and better aligned with current working realities.”
It would be useful to look back at the cumbersome procedures associated with the GDPR.
Salary index and GDPR
“I would look at the current pay indexation mechanism,” says Delphine Bath, chief HR officer at La Mondiale Europartner. “Its significant weight, particularly for service sectors such as insurance, limits the room for manoeuvre to develop a motivating pay policy in terms of individual and collective performance. And indexation, while obviously very popular with employees, is rarely credited to the employer. More than an equality advantage, we need tools to promote fairness and recognition.”
Finally, the CHL’s HR Director, Olivier Schmitt, would like to “relax the rules and obligations linked to the GDPR. At a time when a lot of personal information is circulating voluntarily on social networks, it would be useful to look back at the cumbersome procedures associated with the GDPR… In fact, a study in 2024 showed that the constraints associated with GDPR obligations reduced the competitiveness rate of European companies by 30%.”