HR Services in Switzerland

Yes. The first month is probation by default, and a written agreement, standard employment contract or collective agreement can change it, up to 3 months. Either side can end the contract during probation with 7 days’ notice, and probation is extended by time lost to illness, accident or a legal duty. We make sure your contracts reflect these rules.

Non-wage costs, such as employer social contributions, add about 25% to gross wages (Federal Statistical Office, 2020). In 2026, employers pay 5.3% for AHV/IV/EO and 1.1% for unemployment insurance up to CHF 148,200, plus accident insurance, family allowances and at least the employees’ total into the occupational pension for employees earning over CHF 22,680 a year (CHF 23,040 from 2027). Our Compensation & Benefits Strategy builds a reward framework aligned with Swiss law, market data and internal equity.

Up to 45 hours a week for industrial, office, technical and other salaried staff, including sales staff in large retail, and 50 hours for others, with 11 hours’ rest a day. Overtime above these limits is capped at 2 hours a day, with exceptions, and 170 or 140 hours a year. Senior executives fall outside the Labor Act. We structure work schedules that comply and still leave room for flexibility.

If employment has lasted, or was agreed for, more than 3 months, you pay full salary for 3 weeks in service year 1, then longer as service grows, unless a written or collective agreement sets an at least equivalent scheme, often daily sickness insurance. After probation, you can’t give notice in the first 30 to 180 days of illness, depending on service. We put clear sick leave policies in place.

At least 4 weeks a year, or 5 weeks up to age 20, on full pay, with at least 2 weeks in a row, and leave can’t be paid out instead while employment lasts. August 1 is a paid federal public holiday, and each canton can add up to 8 more public holidays treated like Sundays. We keep you compliant with leave entitlements and help you offer a competitive benefits package.

No, but the rules are firm. After probation, open-ended contracts take 1, 2 or 3 months’ notice (year 1, years 2 to 9, then after), to a month’s end. Changes need writing, can’t go below 1 month (except by collective agreement in year 1) and, as a rule, must be equal for both sides. You give reasons in writing on request, notice you give in protected periods such as illness is void, and an abusive dismissal can cost up to 6 months’ pay. We guide you through every step.

You can use them, but plan the end date. A fixed-term contract ends on that date without notice, and if work carries on after it without a new agreement, it becomes open-ended. A fixed term agreed for more than 10 years can be ended by either side after 10 years with 6 months’ notice. We make sure every fixed-term contract meets these rules.

Yes, if you or your employers’ association signed one, you joined one, or one is declared generally binding for your sector and region, which binds non-signatories too. Terms that undercut a binding agreement are void, and a 13th-month payment is owed only if agreed or required by such an agreement. Five cantons and the city of Lucerne also set minimum wages by law. We keep you compliant with any agreement that applies, with as much flexibility as it allows.

Not automatically. In establishments with at least 50 employees, staff can elect an employee committee, and a vote must be held if a fifth ask, or 100 where there are over 500. It must be informed at least yearly and has participation rights on safety, business transfers, mass redundancies and the pension fund; without one, employees hold these rights directly. We guide you in working with employee representatives.

Switzerland isn’t in the EU, so the EU Pay Transparency Directive doesn’t bind it. Staff you employ in an EU country fall under that country’s pay transparency rules. Under the Gender Equality Act, employers with 100 or more employees must, as a rule, run an equal pay analysis, have it checked independently and tell employees the result within a year of the check; those that pass needn’t repeat it. The rules run until June 30, 2032. Our Compensation & Benefits Strategy covers EU Pay Transparency readiness.

Cantonal authorities enforce the Labor Act. They first require you to fix a breach, then can issue an order under threat of a criminal penalty. Intentional breaches of working and rest time rules, and breaches of health protection rules, can bring a monetary penalty of up to 180 daily rates. We conduct regular compliance audits so your documentation is ready for inspection.