One of the lovely things about working in Switzerland is that holiday time is given at the beginning of the year, unlike in the US where it is earned based on your attendance during the year.

If one moves to CH and starts working with a new company on July 1, that holiday time is prorated. So, let's say the standard time is 25 days. 25/12 = 2.083 days per month x 6 remaining months in the year = 12.5 days of holiday time will be granted to the new employee.

Now it's January 1. An employee (a different one this time) is granted the full 25 days for the new year. She books her vacation and goes away for 5 weeks straight off the bat. Let's say... 15 Jan - 17 February, using 25 days of holiday time.

She comes back, and gives her obligatory 3 months notice, effectively ending her employment on 31 May, and plans to leave Europe and move to Dubai to become a Burqua model.

Since she will only have worked for the company and in Switzerland for only 5 months, is she therefore only entitled to 25/12 = 2.083 x 5 = 10.4 (+.1 for roundness) = 10.5 days of holiday time? And if so, must she repay the equivalent 14.5 days back to the employer and/or have the amount deducted from her last paycheck?

My experience is that the simplest way is to take the days off the final paycheck...

I'm not sure why I get the feeling that your post reads like a complaint....in Australia you usually have to work a full 12 months before you are allowed to begin to take holidays...

Obviously depends on what the contract of employment says, but for the pay in lieu of unearned holiday to be deducted from the final pay check is how I have always seen it operating before.

But I am surprised that she was allowed to take so much holiday in one go. In my old firm this would not have been permitted, especially for someone who is still a probationer (most staff were subject to a 3 month probation period, longer for some roles; holiday during this period was discretionary and restricted to a maximum of a week, although in the case of someone having booked a holiday before they applied for the job, we usually were happy to accommodate them somehow).

Employers aren't stupid.