Current minimum - 20 days
Proposed minimum - 30 days

It's really not that complicated to understand.

Of course, the more vacation you have the more pressure there will be between them to accomplish the same amount of work....

People will just have to learn to be more efficient with their time, instead of pretending to be busy working on a powerpoint when what they're really doing is posting drivel on EF.

If this is true then the Euro countries will love it as more Swiss will be able to spend longer in Euro land and spend there. Switzerland will not be the benefactor of this if it succeeds. As a number have already stated companies will find it hugely more expensive to either employ more people (unlikely) or demand that the same work is done in less time.

Anyone who thinks adding holidays doesn't cost companies is a fool. On the flipside it could help the consultants as they don't need to be paid holidays so a company could get rid of a percentage of workers and replace them with consultants who don't need to go on holidays.

Yes, this could also be a good solution. Let's say 25 days of vacations as standard and max 7 hours of work per day.

That might be true but very often people do not work 8-9 hours all the time. A lot of them go for a long lunch, make 10 breaks for a smoke or a coffee, read news, talk with friends and of course post here on EF...

I agree. Of course there are people who really need to work all the time constantly but very often it is not required and the time is wasted.

How many people work in your company?
About HALF of them.

I finally opened my voting papers today.

I think it is just scaremongering to say that there will be a detrimental impact on Swiss business and the economy. Even "business-friendly" UK has a statutory 28 work days minimum and I don't hear any of the Brits complaining.

Going up to 30 days, however, would make us the top in statutory leave among Europeans.

Hmm..., my heart says yes, my mind says no. Dilemma...

All play little work?
The Swiss are voting on extra vacation.
By law, workers in Switzerland get at least 4 weeks of vacation. On March 11 the Swiss will vote on a people’s initiative that wants to set the minimum at 6 weeks. The government and the Employers’ Association are against the initiative, because they say the law would put an extra burden on the economy. But what do Swiss workers themselves think? (SF/swissinfo.ch)

http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/multimed...l?cid=32175332

I have in principle almost a total of 6 weeks/year available at my disposal. I'd love to use them all, but it is impossible given the demands of the job. I'm not alone in facing this fairly common problem. I hear it from many other people, be it Swiss or expats.

It sounds as though all these people who are complaining about not being able to fit their gigantic workloads into 48 weeks nevermind 46 are being taken advantage of by their employers.

Instead of moaning about all this potential extra time off, vote yes and force them to hire someone else to take the strain and enjoy a more relaxing worklife as well as the two extra weeks off.

Follow your heart!

I love my job. But I love to have holidays and relax too.
It helps me to be better at work.

I have the minimum: 20 days (4 weeks). And it is mandatory in my company to spend at least 2 weeks in a row.

I am a foreigner, from Spain. I have a family there, Mother, Father, Brothers...I like to see them ones a year. Then, 50% of my holidays are gone! (It is a long trip to different locations, does not make sense to go for less than 2 weeks). Let´s do this in Christmas for example.

As a young-full of energy woman I love to discover the world. Therefore I take my other 10 days in summer for vacation to the world, ex: Trip to kenya last summer. I can not even go to other destinations because 2 weeks are too little. ex. Argentina...

Then I am done!! I can not take a bloody long weekend ever. So from Xmas to summer and from summer to Xmas I am F***.

Even If I love my work, it is very stressfull. I do not mind to work harder one day if I know I can take tomorrow off...But 6 months without a day off can de exhausting.

I can think in the effect of the extra holidays in the economy, the employers...I understand but could all employers out there think in how we "the employees" feel?

20 days sucks!

Well, it's a lot better then the 5 or 10 one gets in the US or Japan!

Tom

What do you mean?
Need we to copy their model?

With pleasure if you tell me how to force an employer to hire somebody else. I already have the answer in my ear: "If you can't cope with your work, look for another job, or better we look for another employee."

I just meant that if you're already at your working limit, a government mandated reduction in your working time would in itself perhaps force the employer to hire someone else as it would now be obvious to them that you would not be able to complete your workload.

Go read the ragged trousered philanthropists and fight your exploitation.
Or just invest in Vaseline and prepare to smile whilst receiving a stern buggering.

it would be great for the working mothers.

Dream on. The same happens with the reduction of 100% job into a 80% job or just ask the ones who get 5 weeks holiday when they reach the age of 50. Normally the works stays the same.

This is not quite true, the 28 work days can (and usually does) include some or all of the bank holidays so it's actually only 20 days + statutory bank holidays in the UK which is not much different to how it is here (I know some people don't get paid on public holidays here but many do).

I agree with other posters who have suggested harmonising the bank holidays and rolling all weekend bank holidays onto the next working day like they do in the UK, so everyone gets paid leave. This would mean much more consistent holidays particularly over Christmas when you get the horrible years with no guaranteed time off (people who are not allowed to use their holidays at Christmas find it as annoying as people who are compelled to).

I don't agree that 6 weeks would be good for working mums as it will push up the price of childcare since the nurseries have to give their employees more holiday, or increase the number of days/weeks that nurseries close (my daughter's is closed between Xmas and new year and 2 weeks in the summer) - that eats up a lot of mum or dad's annual leave!

And it will cause problems in many client facing businesses where they are not driven solely by output but also by being available for clients whenever needed.