The government will shortly present an action package aimed at providing better support for self-employed workers in the areas of social security, taxation and unemployment. Among other things, the coalition agreement provides for self-employed workers to be able to benefit from short-time work schemes.
This is a very important step, said DP President Carole Hartmann during a topical debate on the situation of self-employed workers, held on Wednesday 17 June 2026 in the Chamber of Deputies:
A first step in this matter was already taken in December, when we adapted the anti-accumulation rules for self-employed workers in early retirement. As regards the combination of early retirement and professional income, the same rights now apply as for salaried employees.
The MP and mayor of Echternach welcomed this first step, while also pointing to injustices in the social security system:
I am thinking, for example, of self-employed women during pregnancy, whose situation is far more uncertain than that of employees. More generally, there is the inequality that self-employed workers have to pay both parts of the social security contributions: the employer’s share and the employee’s share.
This represents a significant financial burden, said Carole Hartmann, and does little to encourage people to become self-employed. The MP from the east of the country identified another injustice in relation to unemployment:
Self-employed workers do not have the same entitlements. This becomes particularly apparent in economically turbulent times, as was the case during COVID.
For Carole Hartmann, it is essential to make progress on the issue of short-time work as well. For the DP, it is high time to reduce the existing inequalities between the two systems, as self-employed workers are a very important part of our economic system, Carole Hartmann emphasised. Luxembourg currently needs confidence in the future, as well as high-performing self-employed workers who help keep the economy moving.
