SWITZERLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Philippe Nordmann, Irène Suter-Sieber, Jonas Knechtli and Gustaf Heintz, Walder Wyss
od provisions of the Labour Act (see 1.1 Employee Status ). However, the latter only apply to activities carried out in Switzerland; for activities carried out abroad, other laws may have to be complied with. Social Security Employees who are subject to the TFM and are resid - ing in another member state of the European Free Trade Association or the European Union may not carry out a substantial part of their work from their country of residence and remain subject to the Swiss social security system. As per the general rules, this means that being subject to the Swiss social secu - rity system requires that an employee carries out less than 25% of their total working activity and earns less than 25% of their total remuneration in their foreign country of residence. However, since 1 July 2023, an increased percentage limit of 49.9% (of the total work - ing time) applies in relation to those states which have also signed the pertinent multilateral understanding (inter alia Austria, France, Germany, Italy and Liech - tenstein), provided that employees are conducting so- called telework from their foreign country of residence, although thresholds from a tax perspective generally differ therefrom. The situation of employees who are not subject to the TFM has to be assessed on a case-by-case basis. 5.2 Sabbaticals No General Employee’s Right In principle, there is no employee’s right to take a sab - batical in the sense of an unpaid special leave in addi - tion to their statutory rights regarding hours and days off and other absences (see 1.5 Other Employment Terms ). It is only in exceptional cases that there is a legal entitlement (eg, for women who are subject to the Labour Act (see 1.1 Employee Status ) and are pregnant, breastfeeding or have recently given birth). In some cases, CBAs (see 6.3 Collective Bargaining Agreements ) or the employment contract provide for a contractual entitlement. Parties’ Agreement As a rule, the parties are free to agree on the specific terms and conditions of a sabbatical. While there is no formal requirement to be observed, it is generally in the interest of both parties to put this in writing.
Employer’s Information Obligations In any case, the employer is obliged to provide the employee with certain information on the insurance consequences of taking a sabbatical, which depend on their specific circumstances and may be rather complex. 5.3 Other New Manifestations Driven by the experience gained during the pandemic, there is a tendency in practice toward greater digitali - sation and flexibility, in particular regarding the places and times in which work may be performed. This is regularly manifested in the implementation of policies regarding mobile work, desk sharing and/or flexible working structures. However, there are rather strict limits to this flexibility, especially to the extent that the working time and rest period provisions of the Labour Act apply (see 1.3 Working Hours ), or where mobile work in general and cross-border mobile work in particular is involved (see 5.1 Mobile Work ). Trade unions play a marginal role in some sectors of the Swiss economy, while for other sectors such social partners are highly relevant and active. In a nutshell, the role of trade unions is to represent employees vis-à-vis employers and to assert the inter - ests of employees on the political stage. Traditionally, this includes the fight for better working conditions, efficient social security and higher wages. Further - more, in Switzerland, trade unions have established self-help and social institutions, such as unemploy - ment insurance. One of the most important tasks of trade unions is negotiating CBAs (see 6.3 Collective Bargaining Agreements ) as counterparties to employ - ers’ associations. 6.2 Employee Representative Bodies The participation rights of employee representative bodies in Switzerland are regulated by the Federal Participation Act, according to which employees of a company with a headcount of 50 or more are entitled 6. Collective Relations 6.1 Unions
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