The active population in figures

Note: (e) Estimated data

Working conditions

Legal weekly duration

45 hours for technicians and white collar employees.

50 hours for other employees (e.g. building industry and agriculture).

Retirement age

65 years

Working contracts

Legal clauses regulate employment contracts and to a lesser degree collective agreements and individual negotiations.Under Swiss law, foreign citizens need a residence permit and a work permit to get employed in the country.

The terms of employment contracts are rigid. Permission from the competent authority is therefore needed for the appointment of a foreign employee. The requirements relating to the nationality of employees depend on the type of the company. In case of a stock company, the majority of the members of the board of directors must have Swiss or EU/EFTA country citizenship and must be domiciled in Switzerland, whereas for any other type of company there are no similar restrictions.

Cost of labor

Minimum wage

No minimum wages act in Switzerland. However safeguards are in place to prevent ‘wage dumping’ – the practice whereby the salaries paid to the workers from the EU countries are less than the local wages.

Average wage

Approximately USD 3,000 per month for un-skilled workers, and USD 4,500 per month for skilled employees.

Social contributions

Social security contributions paid by employers: 5.05 %.
Social security contributions paid by employees: 5.05 %.

Social partners

Social dialogue and involvement of social partners

Switzerland does not have strong trade unions. Labor/management relations are good, mostly characterized by a willingness on both sides to settle disputes by negotiations rather than by strikes.

Unions

SGB / USS SCHWEIZERISCHE GEWERKSCHAFTBUND UNION (Trade union centre)

Unionization rate

25% of the country’s full-time workers are unionized.

Labor regulation bodies

Switzerland Labour Law Profile
Swiss Managers Union
Central Union of the Managers