Source:
CIA - The world factbook
; UN - United Nations
; World Bank
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.
Labour market
Switzerland
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The active population in figures | Working conditions | Cost of labor | Social partners
The active population in figures
Source: CIA - The world factbook ; UN - United Nations ; World Bank
Note: (e) Estimated data
Working conditions
50 hours for other employees (e.g. building industry and agriculture).
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
Social security contributions paid by employees: 5.05 %.
Social partners
Swiss Managers Union
Central Union of the Managers
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Last updates: May 2012