working conditions in switzerland

Working conditions

• Usual working time in Switzerland: 42 hours per week.
• Holidays: At least 4 weeks per year.
• The following days are general holidays: 1st and 2nd of January, Good Friday, Easter, Easter Monday, Pentecost Monday, 1st of August, 25th and 26th of December. Most of the cantons have some additional holidays.
• It depends on your contract if overtime is disbursed or can be compensated.
• Look at our salary section which salary you can expect.
• The following information must be written in your work contract: salary, weekly working time, holidays, organisation of overtime.

Work permit

Get information about work- and residence permits for

• EU/EFTA nationals
• Third country nationals.

Useful links

• The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO provides information about your rights and your duties if you are working in Switzerland (only in German, French and Italian).
• Swiss Labour Law (only in German, French and Italian).
• Your rights if you are pregnant (only in German and French).
• Unia, Switzerland’s inter-professional trade union.
• networking-for-jobs is a platform helping Swiss expats and third country citizens with a higher education finding a job in Switzerland.
• Travailler-en-Suisse.ch provides information about working in Switzerland (French only).
• www.aufenthalter.ch, www.grenzinfo.de: Several webpages with information about working in Switzerland. Addresses mainly to Germans and border crossers living in Germany (German only).
• jobs.myScience.ch, the job portal for scientists, researchers and academics in Switzerland