Can shops open on Sundays in Luxembourg?
Yes, a shop can open on Sundays — but within regulated hours, not freely. Since the law of 19 December 2025, in force on 19 June 2026, retail shops and craft businesses may serve customers from 5am to 7pm on Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays and their eves, against 5am to 9pm on weekdays. The reform repealed the old law of 19 June 1995 on shop closing, the one whose fines were still written in Luxembourg francs. Three days stay closed in principle — 1 January, 1 May and 25 December — unless a collective agreement applies, though butchers and bakeries may still open. Each shop also gets two days of continuous 24-hour opening a year. The myth: "everything is shut on Sundays in Luxembourg" — outdated; Sunday opening is allowed within these windows, and what is really capped is Sunday work by employees.
📋 The rules
- New hours since 2026: the law of 19 December 2025, applicable from 19 June 2026, allows opening from 5am to 7pm on Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays and their eves.
- Weekdays: Monday to Friday, the maximum window runs from 5am to 9pm; on 22 June, 24 and 31 December it stops at 6pm.
- Three closed days: 1 January, 1 May and 25 December stay closed in principle, barring a collective agreement; butchers, bakeries, pastry shops and caterers may nonetheless open from 5am to 7pm.
- Continuous opening: each outlet may open 24 hours straight on two days a year, provided it notifies the ministry one week in advance.
- Sector exemptions: food, pharmacies, fuel or press outlets may, via a collective agreement, run until 1am or even open 24/7 all week.
🔓 Exceptions
- Sectors outside the scope: restaurants, hotels, cafés, cinemas, station and airport shops, markets, motorway service stations and vending machines do not follow these hours.
- Family businesses: shops where, outside the permitted windows, only the manager and their close, unsalaried family work fall outside the opening limits.
- Employees' Sunday work: opening is allowed, but making an employee work on Sunday follows its own Labour Code rules — capped hours and a 70% pay premium.
⚠️ Penalties & fines
The trap today is to reason with the old law. Traders who look for penalties in the 1995 law land on fines in Luxembourg francs (roughly 10,001 to 100,000 francs) and a possible closure of the business — a text now repealed and replaced by the law of 19 December 2025, whose updated amounts appear in the official journal. Opening outside the permitted windows remains an offence, liable to a fine and, on repeat, to heavier measures. But the costliest sanction often hits the employment side: making an employee work on Sunday without respecting the hourly cap and the 70% premium exposes you to back-pay claims, labour penalties and reassessment. Add the damage to reputation and, for large stores, the duty to negotiate a collective agreement to extend hours.
📎 Official sources
- Guichet.lu · opening hours for retail and craft businesses →
- Legilux · law of 19 December 2025 on opening hours →
- Guichet.lu · Sunday work (Labour Code) →
❓ Frequently asked
Can a supermarket open on Sunday afternoon?
Yes, since the law of 19 December 2025 shops may open on Sundays from 5am to 7pm, afternoon included. It is the opening hours to the public that are set; the number of hours employees may work on Sunday follows separate rules.
Until what time do shops open on weekdays?
Since 2026, the maximum weekday window runs from 5am to 9pm, two hours more than under the old regime. Exemptions via a collective agreement can push closing to 1am in certain retail sectors.
Which days must shops stay closed?
1 January, 1 May and 25 December stay closed in principle, unless a collective agreement provides otherwise. Butchers, bakeries, pastry shops and caterers, however, benefit from an exception and may open on those days from 5am to 7pm.
Is the old 1995 law still valid?
No, the law of 19 June 1995 on shop closing has been repealed and replaced by the law of 19 December 2025. The old references, and above all its fines expressed in Luxembourg francs, no longer have any value today.
Is opening on Sunday the same as making staff work?
No, these are two different questions: opening the shop is allowed within the set windows, but an employee's Sunday work is governed by the Labour Code. That work carries a 70% pay premium and its duration is capped.
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