The Swiss voice in the world since 1935
Top stories
Stay in touch with Switzerland

One in five checks reveals violations of Swiss labour regulations

Four officials sit behind a desk with their name cards and microphones at a press conference
Swiss federal officials announced the findings of their inspections which investigated instances of wage undercutting, wage dumping, and bogus self-employment. Keystone / Peter Schneider

Around one in five checks carried out on workers employed in Switzerland has revealed violations of Swiss wage and working conditions. Swiss employers also engaged in wage dumping when employing foreign workers, a government report has found.

Check out our selection of newsletters. Subscribe here.

This was announced by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) in Bern on Monday in a 2023 report on ancillary measures in the free movement of persons and the fight against undeclared work.

With the agreement on the free movement of persons with the European Union, prior checks as a prerequisite for issuing a work permit were abolished in 2004. Ancillary measures were introduced in Switzerland to prevent pressure on wages which might result from the opening up of the labour market.

In sectors without a collective labour agreement (CLA), the rate at which wage undercutting occurred at the inspected companies was 21%, the report shows. In sectors with generally binding employment contracts, 23% of inspected companies had broken the rules.

+ Switzerland broadly positive about resuming EU talks  

Swiss companies employing foreign workers were also inspected by the competent authorities. Wage dumping was found in 11% of the inspections at these companies. In the case of self-employed service providers from abroad, bogus self-employment was suspected in 6% of the 4,718 inspections.

Successful mutual agreement procedures

According to SECO, 1,628 instances of mutual agreement procedures were initiated last year in response to undercutting of the usual wage and working conditions. In all, 81% of the procedures with the companies were concluded successfully. For Swiss companies, this rate was 54%.

+ Swiss wage protection – a model for the EU?

In 2023, the enforcement bodies inspected the pay and working conditions of 158,848 people in 36,587 companies, according to SECO. In all, 7% of Swiss employers, 26% of workers and 31% of self-employed service providers were inspected. The target of 35,000 checks was therefore achieved.

Over 40,000 people checked for undeclared work

SECO said 13,644 companies and 43,563 people were checked as part of the fight against undeclared work. The inspections focussed on the catering industry, the trade industry, and the main and auxiliary construction sectors.

+ One in four Swiss has second job, survey finds

Following the inspections, 12,500 suspicious circumstances were forwarded to the competent authorities for further investigation. In 3,941 cases, measures were taken or sanctions were imposed following the inspections.

Adapted from German by DeepL/dkk/sb

This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.

If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.

External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
Daily news

Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox.

Daily

The SBC Privacy Policy provides additional information on how your data is processed.

Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

The start of the holiday season means long traffic jams on the Gotthard

More

Gotthard traffic queue hits 11km at start of holiday season

This content was published on The start of the summer holidays saw a long traffic jam in front of the Gotthard tunnel on Saturday. Traffic jams between Erstfeld and Göschenen in canton Uri were up to 11 kilometres long early in the morning.

Read more: Gotthard traffic queue hits 11km at start of holiday season
Study: Rhine could become up to 4.2 degrees warmer by 2100

More

Rhine could warm by 4°C by 2100, scientists warn

This content was published on The water temperature of the Rhine River could rise by up to 4.2° degrees Celsius by the end of the century due to the warming planet, scientists warn.

Read more: Rhine could warm by 4°C by 2100, scientists warn
'Leopard 1 A5' combat tanks in Germany.

More

Switzerland eyes joining EU rearmament programme

This content was published on The Federal Council wants to explore the possibilities of joining the European Union’s €800-billion rearmament programme without compromising Swiss neutrality.

Read more: Switzerland eyes joining EU rearmament programme
Premiere for Swiss Air Force on French National Day

More

Premiere for Swiss Air Force on French National Day

This content was published on On July 14, the Swiss Air Force will take part in the traditional air parade in Paris to mark the French bank holidays with an F/A-18 fighter jet. This is a first for Switzerland.

Read more: Premiere for Swiss Air Force on French National Day

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR