Luxembourg shop opening hours in 2026: Sunday work and late openings explained

Luxembourg’s retail-hours reform is one of the 2026 changes most likely to be felt on high streets. Chamber dossier 8472, the bill regulating opening hours in commerce and crafts, completed its parliamentary path in December 2025 and was published in Memorial A.

RTL Today summarises the practical Sunday rule: certain shops may employ staff for up to eight hours on Sundays instead of four. Companies with up to 30 employees may decide this unilaterally, while companies with 31 or more employees still need a collective agreement with unions. They keep the possibility of opening for eight hours on six Sundays per year.

The reform also changes ordinary opening windows. Many businesses will be able to open from 5am to 9pm on weekdays and until 7pm on weekends. The government’s approach is to modernise trading hours while keeping labour protections tied to company size and collective bargaining.

Some food and hospitality-adjacent trades get specific public-holiday flexibility. RTL Today lists butchers, bakeries, pastry shops, caterers and consumption lounges as able to open on 1 May, 25 December and 1 January. Other shops remain barred on those days unless a collective agreement is negotiated.

For search, this article answers three concrete questions: which shops may open longer, whether Sunday work becomes automatic, and what the difference is between small and larger employers. That makes it useful for workers, managers, unions and customers.