Remote work jobs in Switzerland: what the law says, what candidates want and how to negotiate it

The place of work is set by the contract or, failing that, by the employer’s instructions, which the employee follows in good faith (art. 321d CO). SECO states it plainly: “The Labour Act (LTr) does not explicitly mention working from home”. An employer may therefore refuse it without reasons, and withdraw it if nothing is written. Have it put in the contract or an addendum, with the number of days.

Working from home changes the agreed place of performance. Without a clause, the employer can only impose it by amending the contract, with your agreement or through a dismissal with offer of new terms. Our guide to the notice period explains this mechanism.

Bill 16.484, stemming from a parliamentary initiative, aims to relax the Labour Act for people who set a large part of their working time themselves: a daily window of 17 hours instead of 14, minimum rest of 9 hours instead of 11, and a right not to be reachable during rest periods and on Sundays. The Federal Council backed it on 21 May 2025, asking that the right to disconnect apply to all employees, which the National Council committee followed on 24 June 2025. On 14 October 2026, the Council of States committee approved it by 7 votes to 2 while removing Sunday work, and the plenary examines it in the winter session (RTS). Until it is adopted, the rules below apply.

The maximum working week is 45 hours for office, technical and sales staff of large companies, 50 hours for others (art. 9 LTr), “even when the employee works from home” (SECO brochure). Hours beyond the contractual schedule are overtime, paid with a 25% supplement if not compensated (art. 321c CO).

Day and evening work falls between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. and must fit, for each employee, within a span of fourteen hours including breaks (art. 10 LTr). Night work, between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., is prohibited without authorisation (art. 16 LTr), as is Sunday work, from Saturday 11 p.m. to Sunday 11 p.m. (art. 18 and 19 LTr). Answering emails at midnight from your living room is therefore night work within the meaning of the law.

Daily rest between two working days must be at least eleven hours, reducible to eight hours once a week if an average of eleven hours is kept over two weeks (SECO brochure). Breaks are a quarter of an hour from five and a half hours of work, half an hour from seven hours, one hour from nine hours (art. 15 LTr). At home, nobody enforces them: note them.

Working and rest time must be recorded in accordance with the legal requirements, subject to the exceptions provided by the Act and its Ordinance 1 (SECO brochure; art. 46 LTr). The company’s time-recording tool applies at home, and it is your evidence in a dispute over hours.

The employer takes all necessary measures to protect employees’ health and preserve them from overwork (art. 6 LTr; art. 328 CO). SECO derives from this a duty to inform about the ergonomic set-up of the home workstation and the right to ask for information, such as photos, in case of well-founded doubt. The study carried out for SECO in 2024 in thirteen companies found only a third of home workstations meeting all ergonomic criteria.

The employer reimburses the employee for all expenses imposed by the performance of the work; an agreement leaving them to the employee is void, but a flat rate is allowed if it covers all necessary expenses (art. 327a CO). SECO adds that the employer is in principle required to equip employees with the devices and equipment they need and, if they use their own by agreement with the employer, to compensate them appropriately, although the CO allows the parties to agree otherwise.

In ruling 4A_533/2018 of 23 April 2019, the Federal Supreme Court upheld compensation for an employee who used a room in his home as an office and archive because no suitable workplace was offered to him in the company: in that case, the home infrastructure is necessary for the work and reimbursable under art. 327a CO, even if the room was not rented for that purpose. Conversely, remote work chosen by the employee while a workplace exists at the office does not give a right to a share of the rent. SECO sums up: expenses are due “when the employee has to work from home because a workplace is (partly) lacking in the company”.

A monthly amount for the connection, electricity and equipment, written into the contract, avoids case-by-case discussion. SECO recalls that its tax treatment, taxable salary or expense reimbursement, is assessed case by case under cantonal law, as is the deduction of a room used exclusively as an office.

By granting remote work, the employer bears the related risks: a connection failure that prevents you from working does not cost you your salary, unless you are at fault (SECO brochure).

An accident is occupational when it occurs while the employee performs work on the employer’s instructions or in the employer’s interest, or during a break while lawfully at the place of work (art. 7 LAA). Falling while fetching a file from the next room during a remote-work day falls within this definition; other accidents are non-occupational (art. 8 LAA), covered if you work at least eight hours a week. Our guide to the Swiss payslip explains who pays these premiums.

The controller must ensure adequate security of personal data through technical and organisational measures (art. 7 and 8 FADP). SECO recommends that the employer set out which sensitive data may be processed at home and how, and regulate by directive the loss or theft of equipment and data. You are liable for damage caused intentionally or negligently: read the directive before taking a file home.

The employer protects and respects the employee’s personality (art. 328 CO); photos of the workstation may be requested in case of well-founded doubt about compliance with health instructions (SECO brochure), but not permanent monitoring by camera or screen capture, which the protection of personality and privacy rules out.

Since 1 July 2023, the multilateral agreement on cross-border telework allows you to remain insured in Switzerland with up to 49.9% of remote work in your State of residence, upon request for an A1 certificate (FSIO). Beyond that, contributions move to the country of residence. Without this agreement, the threshold is 25% (SME portal).

The amendment to the Franco-Swiss convention, in force since 24 July 2025 and applicable from 2026, allows up to 40% of remote work per year without changing the taxation of the salary (SIF). With Italy, the protocol sets 25% for new cross-border commuters.

The number of days, the keeping of a count and who bears responsibility for exceeding the threshold. Our guide to hiring a cross-border worker details the rules by country, and our guide to living in France and working in Switzerland the commuter’s daily life.

Two named days are better than “40%”: they can be planned, checked and written into the contract. Keep a reasonable reversibility clause, with notice, rather than remote work “according to the needs of the service”, which guarantees you nothing.

Ask who provides the computer, the screen and the chair, and for a written monthly allowance for the connection and electricity (art. 327a CO). If the employer has no place for you at the office, a share of the rent can be negotiated, with the case law to back it.

Set the hours when you are reachable and those when you are not: the law already imposes eleven hours of rest and prohibits night and Sunday work, and the bill before Parliament wants to enshrine the right not to be reachable. A serious employer agrees to write it down.

A position advertised with the number of remote days attracts the profiles looking for it; our guide to writing a job ad recommends it. On the candidate side, state it as a condition from the start rather than at the last interview.

Remote work, target salary, working hours, location, type of contract: these conditions appear in your profile, and that is what made our job market barometer possible. A recruiter who writes to you has seen them.

Recruiters send proposals to the profiles whose conditions match the position. If you asked for remote work, the proposal takes it into account; you do not have to negotiate it against the clock at the third interview.

Each proposal is read at your own pace. A 100% on-site position is not imposed on you, and you choose which proposals you answer.