Dear All,

My Boss mentioned the other day that he would like to reduce my "Arbeitpensum" from 100% to 50%.

I had the impression he is in hurry to get an answer by the end of the month.

What are my rights? Can he legally do that? Please let me know how to behave according to the Swiss Code of Obligations.

Regards,
G

Yes he can as long as he honors your notice period.

Yes he can as long as he follows proper procedure. He must terminate your current contract following the given notice period and then give you a new conract with the reduced hours. There was another tread on the same topic recently with a lot of information, try looking for it.

Your employer is changing a fundamental part of your contract. Your boss is basically proposing a new contract. It means that the previous contract needs to be cancelled respecting the notice period and a new contract starts.

You have the choice to accept or refuse. If you accept the new conditions then it's OK. If not then your boss has the right to fire you with the notice period mentioned in your contract.

That is correct, depending on how long the OP has worked they may be entitled to unemployment pay of 70% or 80% of the missing 50% of salary. If you are so entitled you will get 85-90% of previous salary.

Thanks Lou, i tried to look it up before i wrote this thread. It wasn´t easy to track it down....Cheers

Ok here what happens!

I have now the 50% Contract with 10 days leave/year? I thought it has to be 20!

Another VERY important question, Is SEVEN days the normal notice period for the new contract? Or he can ban those 7 days option and make it 1 or 2 months as he wishes?

I would appreciate a quick answer!
Cheers

Technically you are entitled to 20 days holiday. He may be calculating it as 20 x half days (10 full days) as on a 50% contract i assume you are only working half days.

Basically, you should have 4 weeks paid holiday. Just watch he doesnt try to scam you with 2 weeks on 100% pay

I didnt quite understand your last question, is it your trial period you are talking about? as far as im aware, its legal for him to give you another trial period with the new contract, but think most employers would not as you are already an employee

He must give you the written notice detailed in the first contract.

Go to the RAV straight away (ASAP) and register for unemployment.

Write your CV tonight, the RAV need a copy.
Take both your work contracts, and his letters to you. Take your passport & Swiss "B Ausweis" with you. Take the last 2 salary statements. Only once the RAV have all the paperwork will you begin to get any money.

Ask the RAV for advice on what to do next about the missing notice to change your contracted hours. You may have to go to the Arbeitsgericht for your area of Zurich.

I didnt quite understand your last question, is it your trial period you are talking about? as far as im aware, its legal for him to give you another trial period with the new contract, but think most employers would not as you are already an employee[/QUOTE]

Yes this is what i mean, like after starting with the 50% contract, will i have 7 days to quit it? cause in the new contract he ommited the 7 days (considered as probation period)!!

You may have to go to the Arbeitsgericht for your area of Zurich.[/QUOTE]

Thanks, how can i contact them though...Is this is how they are called? If so i can google that! :-))

There are 4 courts for workers in canton Zurich, you need to state where you live when searching, (Just noticed that 3 of them have the same office!)

http://yellow.local.ch/en/q/Zurich%2....html?rid=uF-E

They will give you free simple advice, no need for a lawyer. But you might need a helper with you because the German will be difficult!

But get yourself registered at the RAV first, that is your priority.

If she registers with the RAV it will be assumed she is looking for another job - they are not just there to supplement your income for nothing in return.

They would assume she had not agreed to the change in contract and is looking for alternative work for 100%.

The 7 days notice on the contract sounds like the employer has taken the new contract as a new job and has put her back into "probezeit" (probationary period) which would be a bit odd. Her notice period should be the same as it was before.

When my contract reduced, all my other conditions (apart from salary and holiday entitlement obviously) remained the same.

Ok, i think he is within his rights to omitt the trial period as it is just a change in the hours, i cant be certain about that though and maybe you should contact the relevant authorities. Dont think you need to go as far as the arbeitsgericht just yet. I know that with Gastronomie, you can speak to Gastrosocial who are professionals in the field which can answer any question you have with regards to your job. I am sure you will have something like that in your line of work too

Thanks and yes this is what i wanted to know! I thought it is good to have 7 days probationary rather than one month for such a small allocation!