On 04 November the Swiss government (Federal Council) announced it was introducing new rules for recording working time by way of two additional articles; 73a and 73b to Ordinance 1 of the Labor law OLT 1. These provisions take effect on 01 January 2016 and relax obligations regarding the recording of working time for certain categories of employees. These measures will however need to be included in the sector or company collective labor agreements in order for them to become operative. Unions estimate that the new provisions will impact about 15% of the country’s employees. The measures are in fact the result of a compromise between the unions and employers’ respective umbrella bodies. These changes are occurring against a backdrop of moves by the big Swiss companies to raise weekly working time following the SNB’s decision to unpeg the currency.
A reaction to two key developments. For several years Switzerland’s social partners and the government have been discussing the issue of relaxing rules over recording the amount of time worked. However two factors appear to have been decisive in making the Federal Court take action. Firstly, ways of working have evolved at a rapid rate (new working time models, mobile working) and secondly the central bank’s (SNB) decision to drop the cap it introduced in 2011 of SFR 1.20 per EUR. As a result o
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