SWITZERLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Philippe Nordmann, Irène Suter-Sieber, Jonas Knechtli and Gustaf Heintz, Walder Wyss
Walder Wyss Seefeldstrasse 123 P.O. Box
8034 Zurich Switzerland
Tel: +41 586 581 450 Fax: +41 586 585 959 Email: philippe.nordmann@walderwyss.com Web: www.walderwyss.com
1. Employment Terms 1.1 Employee Status Blue-Collar v White-Collar Workers
Other Employee Statuses There is a whole range of other employee status cat - egories that are subject to special protection (particu - larly in connection with their working conditions and dismissal) due to their particular personal situation (see 1.5 Other Employment Terms and 7.5 Protected Categories of Employee ). 1.2 Employment Contracts Permanent v Fixed-Term Employment Contracts There are two main types of employment contract in Swiss employment law: permanent and fixed-term employment contracts. While permanent employment contracts are entered into for an indefinite period and may only end upon notice of termination, fixed-term employment con - tracts cease automatically at the end of their fixed term and may, as a matter of principle, not be termi - nated prematurely. The only exception to this relates to dismissals for serious cause (see 7.3 Dismissal for (Serious) Cause ). Parties’ (Limited) Freedom to Choose a Type of Employment Contract As a matter of principle, parties are free to choose the type of employment contract that best suits their needs. They may even agree on a hybrid construct – ie, an employment contract that provides for a fixed (maximum) term but may also be terminated earlier by way of notice of termination. In order to guarantee a minimum of employee protec - tion, however, case law has developed limits to such freedom. Most notably, multiple consecutive fixed-
As a matter of principle, Swiss employment law does not provide for the traditional differentiation between blue-collar and white-collar workers, but it does occa - sionally provide for similar differentiations. This par - ticularly applies to the following provisions contained in the Federal Act on Work in Industry, Trade and Commerce (the “Labour Act”) relating to the maxi - mum weekly working time and minimum rest periods. • Employees holding a higher executive position, employees performing a scientific activity and employees performing an autonomous artistic activity are entirely exempt from any maximum weekly working time and minimum rest periods. • For ordinary employees in industrial businesses, office staff, technical and other employees (ie, employees performing predominantly intellectual work in offices or office-like jobs), including sales personnel in large retail trade companies, the maxi - mum weekly working time is principally 45 hours. • For all other employees, particularly those perform - ing predominantly manual activities, the maximum weekly working time is 50 hours. The same applies to office staff, technical and other employees, including sales personnel in large retail trade com - panies, working in establishments or parts thereof that employ a majority of employees to whom this maximum weekly working time of 50 hours applies.
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