SWITZERLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Philippe Nordmann, Marion Bähler, Dario Glauser, Christian Hagen and Samuel Lieberherr, Walder Wyss Ltd
impliedly communicated corresponding decla - rations of intent, pursuant to which: • the employee undertakes to work in the ser - vice of the employer for a limited or unlimited period; and • the employer undertakes to pay remuneration to the employee. For the purpose of proof alone, however, it is always advisable to conclude an employment contract in writing. Exceptions There are also exceptions to the aforementioned principle of freedom of form. Firstly, there are specific employment contracts whose conclu - sion requires the observation of the written form (eg, apprenticeship contracts). Secondly, there are a number of specific contractual provisions in any employment contract that may only be bindingly agreed upon in writing (eg, post-con - tractual non-compete restrictions). Duration of Employment Contracts Permanent versus fixed-term employment contracts Swiss employment law provides for two basic types of employment contracts – ie, permanent and fixed-term employment contracts: • permanent employment contracts are entered into for an indefinite period, and their termina - tion requires a notice of termination (which may, in the sense of temporal protection against terminations, not be given at an inop - portune juncture); and • fixed-term employment contracts simply cease at the end of their fixed term and do not, at least as a matter of principle, provide for a premature ordinary termination option
(although this is a possibility the parties may agree on). Prohibition of “illegal chain employment contracts” To guarantee a minimum temporal protec - tion against terminations for the benefit of the employee, case law has developed the rule that it is not possible to agree on multiple consecu - tive fixed-term employment contracts without an objective reason for preferring this to a per - manent employment contract. In the absence of such an objective reason, the seemingly fixed- term employment contracts are, therefore, sim - ply reinterpreted into one permanent employ - ment contract. Maximum Duration of Employment Contracts After ten years, any fixed-term employment con - tract concluded for a longer duration (which is extremely unusual) may be terminated by either party by giving six months’ notice expiring at the end of a month. 4.3 Working Time No Minimum Working Time for Salaried Employees Swiss law does not provide for minimum work - ing times. As a matter of principle, it is up to the parties to agree on a salaried employee′s workload. Maximum Working Time for Some Salaried Employees Maximum weekly and daily working time for a large group of salaried employees At least for a large group of employees employed in Switzerland, the Federal Act on Work in Indus - try, Trade and Commerce (the “Labour Act”) pro - vides for weekly and daily maximum working times. These maximum working times pursuant to the Labour Act particularly, but not exhaus -
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