The European Lawyer

Switzerland Employment

18 May 2012

Employment and Labour Law: 2nd edition - Switzerland

Editors: Lenz & Staehelin, Dr Urs L Baumgartner and Dr Alfred Blesi

1.  SOURCES OF EMPLOYMENT LAW
Employment law in Switzerland is mainly based upon the following sources, set out in order of priority:

• the Federal Constitution;
• public law, in particular the Federal Act on Work in Industry, Crafts and Commerce (the Labour Act, LA) and four respective ordinances, regulating the conditions of work;
• civil law, in particular the Swiss Code of Obligations (CO);
• collective agreements if applicable;
• collective company agreements if applicable;
• individual employment agreement; and
• usage, custom, doctrine and judicial precedents.

The contractual relationship between employer and employee is essentially governed by arts 319-362 of the CO. Among different contracts governed by the CO, the individual employment contract is one which is extensively regulated with regard to its content. The provisions are either mandatory or optional. No deviation shall be made from a variety of mandatory provisions to the detriment of either the employer or the employee – or to the detriment of the employee only – by agreement or by collective employment contract.

Other important sources of private Swiss employment law are:

• the Federal Act on the Equal Treatment of Women and Men (ETA);
• the Federal Merger Act;
• the Federal Act on Personnel Recruitment and Hiring-out of Employees;
• the Federal Act on Information and Consultation of workers (the Participation Act);
• the Federal Act on Private International Law; and
• the EC EFTA Convention on Jurisdiction and the Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters (the Lugano Convention).

2.  PRINCIPAL INSTITUTIONS
In general, federal and cantonal authorities do not play an important role with regard to the execution of an individual employment agreement in the private sector. In some areas or on some occasions, the following authorities may be of importance:

• federal or cantonal authorities to issue work and residence permits required for non-Swiss employees under Swiss law, working permanently or temporarily in Switzerland;
• cantonal labour authorities to be notified in case of a collective dismissal;
• federal or cantonal labour authorities to approve regular work during the night and on Sundays (see section 6.3 below);
• federal or cantonal labour authorities to approve the secondment of workers;
• federal or cantonal labour authorities to approve working, safety and health conditions in industry; and
• cantonal authorities controlling the execution of apprenticeship contracts.

3.  ROLE OF THE NATIONAL COURTS
Individual disputes are submitted to civil courts. The Swiss cantons still have important legislative competences with regard to the organisation of the judiciary. In most of the Swiss cantons, claims arising from an employment relationship have to be submitted to a district court. Some cantons have established specialised employment courts. Appeals from the district courts go to the superior court having jurisdiction for the entire canton. The appeal to the Swiss Federal Supreme Court in Lausanne is available for issues of federal law, provided that the amount in dispute is at least CHF 8,000. The Federal Supreme Court oversees the correct and consistent application of federal law by the cantonal courts. A bill is in discussion at federal level for the unification of the rules of civil procedure with important consequences for the organisation of the cantonal judiciary. However, this bill is at an early stage.

Material federal employment law has already brought some unification to the litigation of employment issues, mainly to ease the employees’ access to civil courts and to strengthen their position vis-à-vis their employer. For amounts in dispute not exceeding CHF 30,000 the cantons must provide for a simple and expeditious procedure. The parties shall not be charged any court fees or court expenses and the judge shall ex officio establish the facts and appraise the evidence at his or her discretion.

4.  EMPLOYMENT STATUS AND CATEGORIES OF WORKER
4.1  Definition of employment status
The legal definition of the employment contract as determined by the CO is a contract whereby the employee is obligated to perform work in the employer’s service for either a fixed or an indefinite period of time, and the employer is obligated to pay wages based either on time periods or on the work performed.

The main elements of the employment relationship are the employee’s subordination and his or her duty personally to perform work. The employer’s main duty is to pay salary for the time the employee is in its service or for the work performed.

Contrary to an employee, a self employed person is not part of the employer’s organisation and is not subordinated. A self-employed person typically enters into a mandate agreement with the principal. As an agent the self-employed person is obligated to carry out the contractually agreed business transactions or services with which he or she has been entrusted.

4.2  Legal consequences of the distinction

Employee  

• Employment agreement  
• Protection against dismissal  
• Statutory sick pay  
• Termination: mandatory notice period  
• Minimum holiday entitlement  
• Working time regulations  
• Equal pay  
• Discrimination protection  
• Maternity rights  
• Social security to be shared between  employer and employee  

Self-employed

• Mandate agreement
• Protection against dismissal: not applicable
• Statutory sick pay: not applicable
• Immediate notice of termination
• Minimum holiday entitlement: not applicable
• Working time regulations: not applicable
• Equal pay: not applicable
• Discrimination protection: not applicable
• Maternity rights : not applicable
• Social security to be borne by self-
  employed only

4.3  Categories of employee
There are many forms of employment, such as full-time or part-time workers, shift, night and day workers, agreements for definite or indefinite time and others, which are all governed by the generally applicable provisions of the CO as outlined in section 1 above. The CO applies to the overwhelming majority of employees.

The CO explicitly regulates three separate employment contracts: the apprenticeship contract; the travelling salesman’s contract; and the homework contract. Specific provisions further exist for the mariner’s contract and for the secondment agreement.

4.4  Directors
As a general rule, Swiss employment law uniformly applies to all persons employed under an employment agreement.

However, senior executives are exempt from the Labour Act. As a consequence, no working time rules apply and in particular no overtime work can be accumulated by these employees.

5.  CONTRACT
5.1  What constitutes an employment contract?
An individual employment contract is deemed to have been concluded if the employer accepts work in its service for a given time, the performance of which, under the circumstances, is only to be expected against remuneration.

5.2  Formal requirements
As a principle, an individual employment contract requires no special form in order to be valid unless otherwise provided for by law (such as for the apprenticeship and the mariner’s contract). However, some provisions of an employment contract are only valid if agreed upon in writing (see section 6.1 below).

5.3  Express or implied terms
The contractual relationship between employer and employee is essentially governed by the CO. Its provisions are either mandatory or optional. No deviation shall be made from a number of mandatory provisions to the detriment of either the employer or the employee – or to the detriment of the employee only – by agreement or by collective employment agreement. Optional provisions apply if the parties to the employment contract do not deviate by mutual consent.

Collective agreements are reasonably common in manufacturing industries and in the public services. Typically, collective agreements provide for issues such as co-operation between the parties to the collective agreement, the unions and the employers’ associations and co-operation at plant level, as well as provisions relating to the terms of employment such as working hours, holidays and salaries.
The Swiss Federal Council may under certain circumstances declare a collective agreement publicly binding, typically for branches with a particularly low remuneration level. In addition, the cantons or the Federal Council may decree standard employment contracts regulating the working and rest time and the working conditions of female and juvenile employees. The practical relevance of standard employment contracts is limited to contracts for agricultural and domestic workers.

Further to these provisions, the general rules of Swiss Civil Law apply to the employment relationship too: every person is bound to exercise his or her rights and fulfil his or her obligations according to the principle of good faith. The employer has to be aware that company practice may establish binding guidelines.

Finally, fundamental rules of Swiss law may be important for the employment relationship, ie the employer’s obligation to respect the principle of equal treatment.

6.  TERMS AND CONDITIONS
6.1  What terms must be included in a contract?
As a principle, an individual employment contract requires no special form in order to be valid. However, some provisions of an employment contract are only valid if agreed upon in writing, such as:

• (partly) exclusion of overtime remuneration;
• inclusion of holiday pay into hourly salary;
• reservation of the employer’s right to acquire any inventions that are invented by the employee while performing his or her employment activity, but not within his or her contractual duties;
• agreement of a probation period other than one month;
• agreement of a notice period other than the legal notice periods (one month during the first year of service, two months in the second and up to and including the ninth year of service and three months thereafter); and
• agreement of a non-competition covenant.

6.2  What terms are typically included in a contract?
An employment contract typically includes:

• name of employer and employee;
• function and field of activity of the employee;
• term and starting date;
• notice period;
• probation period;
• working hours;
• rules regarding overtime compensation;
• details of remuneration;
• intervals at which remuneration is paid;
• details of holidays (including public holidays);
• rules regarding payment of social security contributions including pension scheme;
• payment of salary in case of illness and accident;
• intellectual property rights; and
• non-competition covenant, if any.

6.3  What rules apply to working time and rest breaks?
Working time is typically agreed upon on a weekly basis in the individual employment agreement. The working hours must not exceed limits as stated by public law, in the Labour Act (LA). According to the LA, the maximum weekly working time is of:

• 45 hours for workers employed in industrial enterprises and white-collar workers (office and technical staff and other salaried employees as well as sales staff in large retail enterprises); and
• 50 hours for other workers (mainly construction and craft trades, commerce and sales staff in small retail enterprises).
• Working time is often determined by collective agreements and is typically lower than the maximum working time as set out in the LA.

Work has to be interrupted by a break of:

• at least one hour if the working day is more than nine hours;
• at least half an hour if it is more than seven hours; and
• at least a quarter of an hour if it is more than five-and-a-half hours in length.

The time between 23.00 and 06.00 is considered to be night. Regular work at night and regular work on Sundays may only be carried out after authorisation by the competent labour authority.

6.4  What rules apply to annual leave?
The employee is entitled to at least four weeks of vacation in each year of service and at least five weeks in the case of juvenile employees under 20 years of age.

The number of public holidays varies considerably from one canton to another (Switzerland is a confederation consisting of 26 cantons, each having a limited legislative competence). Some cantons do not even have uniform rules and the number of public holidays is governed by local or regional legislation. As a general rule, the number of public holidays varies between 9 and 14 per year in different regions.

7.  EMPLOYEE REPRESENTATION
7.1  Works councils
According to the Swiss Act on Information and Consultation of workers (the Participation Act) employees may elect works councils in enterprises with at least 50 employees. The works councils have to be informed on all matters on which they need information in order to fulfil their tasks and they have to be consulted as described in section 8 below.

7.2 European works councils
Switzerland is not member of the EU. However, EU Directives apply to Swiss employers operating in EU states. A large multinational enterprise (MNE) operating in two or more EU states and which employs 1,000 or more employees in the EU states and at least 150 employees in each of at least two EU states may be required to establish a European works council or some other suitable transnational procedure for informing and consulting its employees.

8. INFORMATION AND CONSULTATION
8.1 In general
According to the Participation Act the employees’ representative body, or, if there is none, the employees directly, has particular consultation rights in the following matters:
(a)  security at work and health protection;
(b)  transfer of enterprise;
(c)  collective dismissals; and
(d)  affiliation to an occupational pension fund and termination of the affiliation agreement.
It is common that collective agreements extend the employees’ entitlement to be consulted beyond the situations (a-d) as outlined above.
In practice, the information and consultation in case of transfer of undertakings (b) and in case of collective dismissals (c, see section 11 below) are of particular interest.

8.2  Transfer of enterprise
If the employer transfers the enterprise or a part of it to a third party, the employees’ representative body or, if there is none, the employees, shall be informed or consulted. A transfer is considered to be the transfer of a part of an enterprise, if a business unit is transferred from one legal entity to another. In no case is the consent of the employees required for any transaction.

Consultation
Employees or the employees’ representative body are entitled to be consulted when the employer transfers the enterprise or part of it to a third party and, as a result of the transfer, measures affecting the employees such as dismissals, salary cuts or major adjustments in employment conditions are envisaged. Consultation must take place in due time prior to the decision on these measures. In case of a collective dismissal the collective dismissal consultation procedure applies (see section 11 below).

Information
If no such measures are planned, the employees must be informed in due time prior to the transfer itself. In this case the employees may be informed after all relevant decisions have been made. It is even possible (but not advisable) to inform the employees after a public announcement of the restructuring has been made. However, the employees must be informed before the implementation of the restructuring in Switzerland. Each individual employee must have the opportunity to object to the transfer of his or her employment relationship before the transfer.

Sanctions
The CO does not contain particular sanctions in case the employer fails to comply with the information or consultation obligation in case of a transfer of enterprise (for sanctions in case of failure to comply with the collective dismissal procedure, see section 11 below).
The Swiss Federal Merger Act (FMA) aims at facilitating the adaptation of the legal structure of businesses to new business purposes and market realities. The FMA contains a number of provisions designed to protect employees by way of reference to the provisions relating to the transfer of enterprise. If the employer fails to comply with its duty to consult, the employees have the opportunity to have the entry of the merger in the commercial register enjoined by the judge.

9.  EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES
9.1  Discrimination
The purpose of the Swiss Federal Act on the Equal Treatment of Women and Men (ETA) is to enhance equal treatment of women and men at work by means of a general prohibition of discrimination based on gender – including a prohibition of sexual harassment.

The ETA prohibits any unjustified discrimination based on gender, in particular regarding marital status, family situation, or – with respect to female employees – pregnancy. Gender discrimination is explicitly prohibited for hiring procedures, work assignments, working conditions, salary policy, continuing education, promotion and dismissal of employees. Intention or negligence on the employer’s side is not required for the sanctioning of discrimination under the ETA.

The prohibition of discrimination encompasses both direct and indirect discrimination.
(a) Direct discrimination is directly based on gender or a criterion which can only be fulfilled by one gender (such as the promotion of men only into management as a matter of principle although some of the female employees are qualified for a management position).

(b) Indirect discrimination means that a criterion is used which can, as a matter of principle, be fulfilled by both genders, which, however, leads to an unjustified disadvantage to one gender (eg strict refusal to promote part-time employees into management if such promotion policy is not justified by business reasons and women are substantially overrepresented in the group of part-time employees).

However, a measure is deemed not to be discriminatory if it lies on objective justified grounds. Therefore, measures or criteria that (i) are required for the performance of a specific task (eg the fact that an employee of a certain gender must fulfil a specific assignment, such as being an actress for acting in a female role) or (ii) aim and are appropriate to further factual equal treatment of men and women (such as the preference of female applicants to their equally qualified male co-applicants with the purpose of increasing the percentage of women in a specific position) are deemed not to be discriminatory.

Prohibition of discrimination by sexual harassment in particular
Pursuant to the ETA, any undesired conduct of a sexual nature or any other improper conduct based on gender that impairs the dignity of women and men at work is considered sexual harassment and, thus, discriminatory. The ETA mentions in particular threats, the promise of advantages, or the exertion of pressure, to derive sexual benefits. In addition, sexist or suggestive remarks or the presentation or public use of pornography is also considered sexual harassment pursuant to the ETA.

Sanctions
Employees affected by discrimination are entitled to claim against the employer for (i) prohibition or restraint of a future discrimination, (ii) removal of an existing discrimination or (iii) qualification of a specific conduct as discriminatory provided such conduct continues to impair the claimant’s position and – in the case of discriminatory salary policy – (iv) salary payments for the past five years only due to the statute of limitations.

Apart from the claims set out under (i)-(iii) above, the victim of sexual harassment has a claim against his or her employer for payment of a penalty provided the employer cannot prove that it has taken all measures necessary to prevent such harassment which it was in good faith required to take. Such penalty must not exceed the amount of six monthly salaries based on the average salary in the respective industry as documented by the Swiss Federal Office of Statistics, collective employment agreements, or by other sources.

A person who has been affected by a discriminatory refusal to be hired can only claim a penalty not exceeding the amount of three prospective monthly salaries. Employees who have been dismissed on discriminatory grounds have a claim for payment of a penalty up to six monthly salaries.

9.2  Equal salary
The concept of ‘work of equal value’ has been construed on numerous occasions under Swiss law. The value of a type of work is usually established pursuant to certain post-evaluation processes of the position but, according to recent case law, all current recognised methods are admissible and the employer retains a wide discretionary power to ascertain the value of work.

Differences in salary must be based on objective reasons such as academic background, qualification, professional experience, age, seniority, physical or mental difficulty of the task, degree of particular responsibility, as well as risks or managerial functions, and these grounds must materially influence the value of work. Labour market factors and state of the economy are admissible as grounds in this context only if differences in salary are in proportion, correspond to the real economic needs of the company and do not exceed economic volatility as well as limited in time to what is necessary.

9.3  Trade union discrimination
Notice of termination by an employer is deemed to be abusive (see section 10.3 below) if it is given because the employee belongs or does not belong to a trade union, or because he or she lawfully exercises a union activity.

9.4  Maternity leave
All female employees, regardless of their length of service, are entitled to 16 weeks’ ordinary maternity leave. Within the first eight weeks following confinement, a mother must not be employed. During pregnancy an employee may stay at home without justifying her leave.

Legislation on maternity leave is not co-ordinated with legislation on maternity pay. As of 1 July 2005 new legislation on maternity pay has entered into force, granting a mother 80 per cent of her salary for a period of 14 weeks following confinement. The maximum monthly maternity pay is currently limited to 80 per cent of CHF 6,450. It is probable that many employers will arrange for a maternity pay of 80 to 100 per cent of the salary (including salaries exceeding CHF 6,450), be it by voluntary payments or by entering into a respective collective insurance policy.

The employee is protected from dismissal during her pregnancy and the 16 weeks following confinement.

10.  DISCIPLINE AND TERMINATION
10.1  Disciplinary procedures and action
In general
The employer may establish general directives and give specific instructions about the execution of the work and the conduct of employees in the enterprise. The employee must in good faith observe such general directives and specific instructions so given to him or her.

When establishing directives and giving instructions the employer must respect the employee’s individuality, pay due regard to the employee’s health and care for the preservation of morality.
Except as set forth below (termination procedures) there are no specific legal provisions regarding disciplinary procedures.

10.2 Termination of an employment contract without definite period of time
Either party to the employment contract is in principle free to give notice at any time – irrespective of the employee’s age – observing contractual or legal notice periods (freedom of giving notice).

Unless otherwise stipulated in the contract by written agreement, the notice periods are of one month during the first year of service, of two months in the second and up to and including the ninth year of service and of three months thereafter. The termination date is at the end of a month (optional provisions). A minimum notice period of one month may only be reduced by collective employment contract and only for the first year of service. As a principle the notice periods shall not differ for the employer and the employee (mandatory provision).

Individual and collective employment contracts often alter the term of notice periods whereas an alteration of the termination date other than the end of a month is unusual. An extension of the legal term of the notice periods by written agreement is frequent for senior staff. The term of notice periods then is of six months or an even longer period.

Further to both parties’ obligations to observe legal or contractual notice periods various restrictions to the freedom of giving notice apply, almost exclusively to the employer.

10.3 Restrictions to the freedom of giving notice
Notice of termination at an improper time
The employee is protected from dismissal during a certain period called ‘forbidden period’. The employer shall not give notice during forbidden periods such as:

• the employee’s pregnancy and the 16 weeks following confinement;
• a period of 30 days in the first year of service, of 90 days in the second year until and including the fifth year of service and of 180 days as of the sixth year of service, if the employee is fully or partially prevented from working due to illness or accident; and
• the employee’s performance of compulsory military or civil defence service, provided such service lasts more than 12 days, as well as four weeks prior to and four weeks following such service.

Consequences of a termination at an improper time
The notice given by the employer during a forbidden period shall be null and void. It has to be given again once such period has expired. An employee’s absence due to a serious illness may continue, but once the forbidden period has expired (maximum term of 180 days), the employer may validly give notice. However, each single cause gives rise to a separate forbidden period.

Thus, the employee who has an accident just after recovering from an illness is protected by a new forbidden period whereas if he or she falls ill under the same illness he or she is not protected.
If notice is given prior to the beginning of a forbidden period and if the notice period has not yet expired, the expiration of the notice period is suspended and continues only after the termination of the forbidden period. The suspension of a notice period due to an illness might be a few days. Since in the majority of employment relationships, the termination date is at the end of a month, a brief suspension of a few days can cause an extension of the term of contract by one month

Abusive notice of termination
A notice of termination given for certain reasons specified by the CO is considered as being abusive. Abusive is, namely, notice given:

• because of a quality inherent in the personality of the other party such as age, race, sex, origin or other;
• because the other party exercises a constitutional right such as political activity or religious liberty;
• in order to prevent the arising of claims based on the employment contract;
• because the other party asserts in good faith claims based on the employment contract (notice of termination as an act of revenge);
• because the other party performs compulsory military or civil defence service;
• because of the employee’s membership or non-membership of an employee’s association or because the employee lawfully exercises a union activity;
• during the period the employee is elected employee representative unless the employer can prove a justified motive for the notice; and
• in connection with a mass dismissal, if the employer violates the consultation procedure.

Consequences of an abusive notice of termination
Unlike the notice given by the employer during a forbidden period, the abusive notice of termination is valid. The term of the employment relationship is not influenced by an abusive notice of termination. However, the party which abusively gives notice of termination shall pay an indemnity to the other party. The indemnity is determined by the judge and shall not exceed the employee’s wages for six months (two months in case of abusive notice of termination in connection with a mass dismissal).

Equal treatment of women and men
A notice of termination by the employer may be challenged under the Swiss Federal Act on the Equal Treatment of Women and Men (ETA) if it is given following a complaint of discrimination to a superior, or following a proceeding initiated by the employee before a conciliation authority or a court, unless the employer can prove justified motives for the notice. This protection from notice of termination is granted during the proceedings and for the six months thereafter.

By challenging a notice of termination the employee may request a judgment against the employer ordering the provisional reinstatement of the employee for the duration of the proceedings. Instead of a provisional reinstatement, he or she may claim an indemnity according to the provisions relating to the abusive notice of termination.

Termination without notice
For valid reasons, both the employee and the employer may at any time terminate any employment relationship without notice. The employment contract may also be terminated with immediate effect after (ordinary) notice of termination has already been given. Any circumstance under which, if existing, the terminating party can in good faith not be expected to continue the employment relationship is considered to be a valid reason for termination. The judge decides at his or her own discretion on the existence of such circumstances. The CO does not specify further, what behaviour of the party breaching the employment contract justifies a termination with immediate effect. According to doctrine and case law only a serious fault that destroys the mutual trust may give the other party the right to terminate the contract with immediate effect. Termination without notice is the last resort.

Consequences of an immediate termination without valid reason
If the employer terminates the employment contract with immediate effect without valid reason (unjustified dismissal), the employee shall have a claim for compensation equivalent to what he or she would have earned if the employment relationship had been terminated by observing the notice period or until the expiration of the specified term. Furthermore the judge may oblige the employer to pay an indemnity to the employee. As a rule courts adjudicate such indemnities as a penalty. The indemnity may not exceed the employee’s wage for six months.

If the employee terminates the employment contract with immediate effect without a valid reason, the employer has a claim for compensation equal to one-quarter of the wage for one month, compensation for additional damages being reserved.

11.  COLLECTIVE DISMISSALS
11.1  Definition
A notice of termination shall constitute a collective dismissal if such a notice of termination is given by the employer within a period of 30 days for economic reasons (reasons unrelated to the person of the employee) and which affects:

• at least 10 employees in enterprises usually employing more than 20 and less than 100 persons;
• at least 10 per cent of all employees in enterprises usually employing more than 100 and less than 300 persons; or
• at least 30 employees in enterprises usually employing at least 300 persons.

11.2 Procedure
Information
As a first step, the employer has to provide the necessary information to the employee’s representative body or, if there is none, to the employees. It has to provide written information on:
(a)  the reasons for the collective dismissal;
(b)  the number of employees to be made redundant;
(c)  the number of persons usually employed; and
(d)  the time period within which the notification of the redundancies is to be given.

Consultation
With the notification of information described above the consultation period begins. During this period the employees must have the opportunity to make suggestions on how to avoid the redundancies or to limit the number of redundancies and to alleviate their consequences. However, the employer is not obliged to follow these suggestions.

Notification
If the consultation with the employees did not result in a substantial reduction of the number of redundancies the employer must notify the competent labour office in writing of every planned collective dismissal after completion of the consultation period. This notification to the labour office must include the results of the consultation with the employees. Only after execution of the notification as described can the employer terminate the employment relationships by giving notice to the redundant employees.

11.3 Consequences of not complying with the applicable procedures
The notice of termination of the employment relationship by the employer is abusive, if it is given in connection with a collective dismissal without prior consultation with the employees. The employer giving abusive notice must pay compensation of up to two monthly salaries (per employee suing the employer for such compensation).

An employment agreement can end at the earliest 30 days after notification of the planned collective dismissal (after completion of the consultation period) to the cantonal labour office. Therefore, as long as this notification is not correctly handled, a notice of termination is invalid.

12. FORTHCOMING LEGISLATION
On 1 January 2007 new legislation entered into force with respect to transparency of director’s and manager’s compensation. Publicly traded companies have to disclose any kind of compensation, including loans and credits, bonuses, employee stock options etc. awarded directly or indirectly to members of the board, members of the executive board and members of an advisory board or former members of such bodies. A detailed set of rules applies to the different categories of directors and employees concerned.

A new piece of federal law in preparation (but not yet in parliament) plans to introduce rules on disclosures of compensations even for non-listed companies.

13. USEFUL REFERENCES
Statutes and statutory instruments
Federal Authorities of the Swiss confederation: www.admin.ch

General bodies
Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs: www.seco.admin.ch

Federal judiciary
Federal Supreme Court: www.bger.ch