Under Swiss law, an employment contract is a contract whereby the employee undertakes to work in the service of the employer for a limited or unlimited period and the employer undertakes to pay him/her a salary based on the amount of time he/she works (time wage) or the tasks he/she performs (piece work). Even if the legal framework is liberal, certain mandatory statutory terms apply automatically to every employment contract. There is no statutory requirement that an employment contract be in writing to be valid.
The level of salary depends on each individual contract or applicable collective employment contract. There is generally no statutory minimum salary in Switzerland.
The employee must perform the work required, and the employer must pay the agreed salary. Failure to do so can result in claims for damages, and potentially termination of the employment relationship. The normal weekly hours under and employment agreement are between 40 and 44. The maximum time per week is 45 hours for employees in industrial enterprises and for office, technical and sales personnel in large retail companies, 50 hours for all other workers, in particular manual workers.
As a general rule, employment contracts may be terminated by mutual consent, by expiration of a fixed term, by death of the employee or by unilateral notice of termination. During the probation period (maximum 3 months), an employment contract may be terminated by either party upon a seven days’ notice. After the termination of the probation period, an employment contract may be unilaterally terminated by both employer and employee, subject to statutory notice periods ranging from one to three months, depending upon the length of service.
