In the 2.5 years I picked up some interesting info on Labour Law in Switzerland, not just from my case but from others as well.

What I did find out was that Swiss Labour Laws are strict and in most cases not negotiable. This is particulary important to people who work shiftwork, sundays or other irregular work patterns. Now I am sure Richard will step in here, so the points I will mention are only what I know. The following applies to people who are not Geschäftsleitung (Management), that is who cannot influence the strategies and direction of company activity.

• The working week is counts from 00:00 on Monday morning until 23:59 on Sunday. This is not negotiable.
• You are only allowed to work five (5) days in a row. Not negotiable.
• You must have your 2 days off together. Exception here is if you have a free Sunday in the same work week you had the other free day. A free Sunday means the whole 24 hours Sunday without work.
• There is a minimum 11 hours between shifts.
• The maximum number of hours a week is 52.
• You must have at least 12 free Sundays in a calendar year.

Breaks

• You MUST be given the opportunity to take a minimum 30min break within the first 5 hours of your shift. If you work longer than 9 hours you must take a total of 1 hour break (including 1 break of at least 30min).
• On night shifts you are not allowed to work more than 10 hours.

The thing to remember is, you as the employee can technically not forego these laws that are designed to protect you, even if that would suit you. For example, I always wanted Sunday/Monday off, with a nightshift on Saturday evening. This was illegal, because this meant the Saturday shift broke into Sunday, and Sunday was therefore not free. [*]If a company does not pay you for your break time, then you must have be permitted complete freedom from your duties in this time. Otherwise they must pay you.


Because of one court matter, my old company was audited by the relevant authorities, and the general manager threatened with charges should repeat breaches be detected.

Hi Litespeed,

You make no contentious points here. I think what is interesting is the commitment from the employer. Apart from the known times when you are protected by law your employer can sack you without reason by giving you the contractual notice period. This means that unless your contract states longer the majority of people have a two months notice period and ciao.

There are also Labour laws that are particular to pregnant women. These can be found in English at: http://www.travailsuisse.ch/uploads/...20pregnancy%22

Hi Litespeed, are you sure about the Labour laws you posted? I work at McDonald's (suspension pending) and I only get a 15min break after I work MORE than 5 1/2 hour's. Many people including me work untill 24:00 then have to come in the next morning at 07:00 or 08:00. And a few other violations you mention too. Where can I go to file a complaint?

Huh, I used to work in some hotels and restaurants. A typical Sunday shift in the one was from 1 pm until 11 pm without break. In another we sometimes worked from 6 pm until between 12 and 1 am. We then had to work for 5 hours in the morning from 7 until 12.

I am really happy those days are gone, hopefully for good.

Very switzerland ... are you certain that these things are in the law "vorschriften" and not just recomendations?

I worked as technical director for the Casino Theater in Winterthur and left actualy due the fact that these "laws" were not kept to ( having come up from the work force to a directors position I knew what it was like and fought for my teams rights all to no avail )

I bet if its a big national company theres a chance but most swiss that I have met are all in a kinda take it or we find some one else.