Abstract

In its decision rendered on 19 May 2022, the Luxembourg Court of Cassation (Cour de Cassation de Luxembourg) ruled on the applicable law to the employment contract of an employee of a Luxembourg company who was on long-term secondment in France, most notably regarding the provisions applicable to determining retirement age and its consequence on the employment contract. The employee was hired at the age of 62 by a Luxembourg company pursuant to an employment contract governed by Luxembourg law and a few months later was seconded to France (to work at the head office of the group) for a period of five years. However, when the employee reached the age of 65, his employer informed him by means of a letter that, in accordance with the provisions of Luxembourg law, he was entitled to an old-age pension with the consequence that his employment contract was automatically terminated.
The Court of Cassation overturned the decision of the Court of Appeal on the ground of insufficient reasoning as it considered that the Court of Appeal did not respond to the arguments put forward by the employee, who had challenged the validity of his secondment (considering that France was the country in which the employee habitually carried out his work).