Hi,

I'm looking for some advice re the above - if I'm an ex-pat , employed under and organisations UK set up, are my legal rights as per the UK, or CH employment law?

Thanks

Does your contract state which law is applicable? They usually do for completeness sake.

An obvious, but good point ... off to look !

Yes, well even though they may state it (and I would have been in serious trouble if I had drafted a contract without this), we all know its not the be all and end all, but its a good starter for 10

Other than being paid by the swiss company and having to follow swiss holidays , everything else in UK .. pension, NI etc

Art 121 sentence 1 of the Law on International Private Law (IPRG) states that the employment contract is subject to the laws of the country where the work is usually being done. Art 121 sentence 3 IPRG allows for a choosing the laws of the state where the employer is resident or has an office location, but absent such choice of law sentence 1 kicks in.
Art 115 IPRG states that Swiss courts have jurisdiction over employment-related matters. These can be the courts at the place of residence of the employee or the courts at the place of work.
Note that jurisdiction (=which court can you go to) and applicable law do not have to be in synch - a Swiss court may have to deal with an employment contract subject to the laws of England.
The IPRG is available here in German http://www.admin.ch/ch/d/sr/291/index.html (and French and Italian)

I am not positive that one can contract out of Swiss social security payments just like this....

If you register to live and work here you will need to follow Swiss employment laws and compulsory deductions for tax, health, pensions, 3rd party liability insurance, etc. If you are employed by a Swiss company, or the UK company has a registered subsidary office here, you will have to register and get a work permit.

Generally these forced deductions are less painful than UK rates, and we do have a higher standard of living. Unless you are registered as living and working here, with a permit, you won't easily get an apartment. You might however be able to "illegaly" share one.

Before you ask: CHF 6,000 per month is enough to live on!

If you live in hotels or furnished rooms for up to ( I think ) 6 months and go back to UK regularly you might be able to claim to be a working visitor.