Temp, fixed-term or permanent: which employment contract for which job in Switzerland? Rules, costs and case law for employers

Either party may terminate an open-ended contract, and must give written reasons if the other asks (art. 335 CO). The notice period is one month in the first year of service, two months from the second to the ninth, three months thereafter, for the end of a month (art. 335c CO); the probation period is one month by default, three at most in writing (art. 335b CO). After probation, the employer may not dismiss during incapacity caused by illness or accident through no fault of the employee (30 days in the first year, 90 from the second to the fifth, 180 from the sixth), nor during pregnancy and the sixteen weeks after the birth (art. 336c CO). Our guide to the notice period details these rules.

A fixed-term contract ends without notice (art. 334 para. 1 CO). In return, neither party may terminate it ordinarily before the term, except for good cause (art. 337 CO) or an express clause providing a notice period, known as a maximum-duration contract. It has no automatic probation period: it must be agreed, as our guide to the probation period explains. Tacitly extended after expiry, it becomes a permanent contract (art. 334 para. 2 CO), and a contract concluded for more than ten years may be terminated after ten years with six months’ notice (art. 334 para. 3 CO). The Federal Supreme Court sums it up: a fixed-term contract shields the employee from ordinary termination during its term, but at the end of the contract the employee is less well protected, notably in case of illness (ATF 129 III 618, consid. 6.1). The term falls even during sick leave.

In staff leasing, the agency, called the lessor of services, hires the worker and hires out their services to the user company, which directs them day to day (art. 12 Employment Services Act, LSE). The temp worker is covered by two contracts: a written employment contract with the agency, stating the type of work, the place, the duration or notice period, the hours, the wage and the benefits in case of illness, accident and holidays (art. 19 LSE), and a written staff-leasing contract between the agency and you, stating among other things the cost of the lease, social contributions included (art. 22 LSE). For an open-ended engagement, the notice period is at least two days during the first three months and seven days from the fourth to the sixth (art. 19 para. 4 LSE); the industry collective agreement sets one month from the seventh month (art. 11 Staff Leasing CBA).

The prohibition of evasion of the law (art. 2 para. 2 Civil Code) precludes “chain contracts” whose fixed term is justified by no objective reason and whose purpose is to evade the provisions on protection against dismissal or to prevent claims that depend on a minimum length of employment from arising (ATF 129 III 618, consid. 6.2, citing ATF 119 V 46). In that case, the relationship is treated as an open-ended contract, with the notice periods, the protection against untimely dismissal and the cumulated seniority that follow.

In the same ruling, the Court accepted chained seasonal contracts: the farmer had no work to offer in winter, and four consecutive seasons did not make the fifth contract abusive. Maternity or sick-leave cover, a dated project, limited funding, a season, an internship or a training period are reasons of the same kind. The FSO finds them in its data: in 2024, 18.7% of fixed-term contracts corresponded to a limited project or temporary work, 16.0% to a regularly renewed position, 14.1% to an internship or volunteering, 7.5% to training, with seasonal work and replacements weighing between 4 and 9% depending on gender.

A “regularly renewed position” for a permanent need, with no reason other than keeping control over the end of the contract, is the typical case targeted by the ruling. And if you let the fixed-term employee carry on after the term without a new contract, a permanent contract arises on its own, with its seniority (art. 334 para. 2 CO).

A lessor of services must hold a licence from the cantonal labour office, plus a SECO licence to lease services abroad; leasing staff recruited abroad into Switzerland is prohibited (art. 12 LSE). A company is deemed to be in the staff-leasing business when it concludes more than ten leasing contracts in twelve months or earns an annual turnover of CHF 100,000 from it (art. 29 of the ordinance; SECO directives). Without a licence, the leasing contract is void (art. 22 para. 5 LSE) and so is the temp worker’s employment contract (art. 19 para. 6 LSE); the agency faces a fine of up to CHF 100,000 and the company using its services up to CHF 40,000 (SME portal). The federal register of licensed agencies is public.

Extended to the whole of Switzerland, it covers agencies whose main activity is staff leasing and all the workers they hire out, up to the maximum insured earnings under accident insurance (art. 2 CBA), and runs until 31 December 2027 (art. 43). Minimum wages 2026: CHF 3,867.45 per month thirteen times, or CHF 21.22 per hour, without vocational training; CHF 4,713.29, or CHF 25.86 per hour, with a federal diploma; in high-wage regions (Lake Geneva area, Bern agglomeration, cantons of Zurich, Basel-Stadt, Basel-Landschaft and Geneva), CHF 4,080.75 and 5,033.24; in Geneva, CHF 4,136.90 without training (art. 20 CBA). Cantonal minimums prevail if higher: see our guide to the minimum wage by canton. And if your company is bound by an extended CBA, the agency must apply its wage and working-time provisions to the temp (art. 20 LSE; art. 3 CBA).

For an open-ended engagement, the first three months are a probation period; for a fixed term, the first two thirds, at most three months (art. 10 CBA). Notice is two working days during the first three months, seven days from the fourth to the sixth, one month from the seventh (art. 11 CBA; art. 19 para. 4 LSE). That is the flexibility of temp work, and its price for the candidate.

Clauses preventing you from hiring the temp at the end of the lease are void (art. 22 para. 2 LSE), as are those hindering their transfer (art. 19 para. 5 LSE). The agency may however claim compensation if the assignment lasted less than three months and you hire the person within the following three months; it is capped at the administration costs and profit you would have paid for three months of assignment, less what has already been paid (art. 22 paras. 3 and 4 LSE). A new probation period is allowed on permanent hiring, as it is a new contractual relationship (ATF 129 III 124).

In occupations subject to the notification requirement, a three-month fixed-term contract or a replacement must be notified like a permanent job; for a temp, the agency, as employer, notifies. Our guide to the job vacancy notification requirement lists the occupations and exceptions.

One, two or three months’ salary of notice depending on seniority (art. 335c CO), suspended if illness or accident occurs during the notice period (art. 336c CO), plus recruiting the replacement. Our guide to the Swiss payslip details the contributions you bear.

If the need ends before expiry, the employer who prevents the work from being performed or is in default of accepting it remains bound to pay the salary without the employee having to work (art. 324 CO), less what the employee earns elsewhere. A twelve-month contract for a project that stops in month six costs six months, unless a termination agreement or clause exists. Set a realistic term or a maximum-duration contract with a notice period.

The staff-leasing contract must state the cost of the lease, including social contributions, allowances and compensation (art. 22 para. 1 LSE). The agency’s margin is not regulated; SECO presumes a profit motive as soon as the price invoiced exceeds wage, contributions and roughly 5% administration costs (SECO directives). Ask for a line-by-line breakdown: hourly wage, holidays, contributions, margin. In return, the agency carries the employment contract, payroll, insurance and the two-day notice period.

Temp staffing: the agency supplies a profile within days, carries the contract, and notice is two days for three months. It is the contract of the 58% of Licorn candidates who accept an assignment, and of the 413,437 people who went through temporary work in 2024.

The fixed-term contract, with a precise term or event: “until the incumbent returns, at the latest on 30 June”. The objective reason is documented, the contract ends on its own. If the end date is uncertain, provide a maximum-duration contract with a notice period, otherwise the salary runs until the term (art. 324 CO).

The permanent contract, even if you hesitate: the probation period of at most three months (art. 335b CO) is the legal tool for testing, with seven days’ notice. A fixed-term contract “to see” followed by a permanent one does not in principle give the right to a second probation period, and a repeated fixed-term contract on a permanent position is the case targeted by the Federal Supreme Court. On the candidate side, 37% accept a permanent contract only: a permanent need published otherwise loses them.

Hire them: clauses forbidding it are void, compensation to the agency is only due if the assignment lasted less than three months (art. 22 LSE), and a new probation period is allowed (ATF 129 III 124). State the contract type from the job ad onwards: it is one of the first criteria candidates filter on.

Permanent, temporary assignment, freelance, internship, apprenticeship: each profile states the contract types accepted, along with salary, working-time percentage and location. That is what made our job market barometer possible.

You publish your conditions, contract type included, and send proposals to profiles whose conditions match. A six-month fixed-term contract reaches the 58% who accept an assignment, not the 37% who want a permanent contract only.

Licorn is not a staffing agency: you hire directly, with the contract of your choice, with no transfer fee and no margin on the wage.