Companies based outside Switzerland may temporarily post workers to Switzerland. When doing so, they must comply with several requirements and apply certain provisions of Swiss legislation with regard to posted workers - particularly in terms of pay, working time and working conditions.
The rules on the temporary posting of workers to Switzerland are set out in the Federal Act on Measures Accompanying the Posting of Workers and the Control of Minimum Wages (Posted Workers Act : https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/2003/231/fr#fn-d7e152).
These rules apply when an employer based outside Switzerland gives an employee a specific assignment to carry out in Switzerland for a limited duration of time, with the intention that the employee will resume work in their home company once their assignment in Switzerland has been completed.
Specifically, the rules on the transnational posting of workers apply to employers based outside Switzerland who have work to be completed in Switzerland in one of the following contexts:
Provision of services: the execution of contracts for the provision of services in Switzerland, provided that they are requested by the employer (outside Switzerland);
Intra-company or intra-group mobility: the provision of services in a workplace of the employer, or of another company in the same corporate group as the employer, located in Switzerland;
The leasing of services of personnel recruited abroad is not permitted in Switzerland.
Postings are, by definition, temporary but their duration may vary depending on the nature of the work. The employer must continue to pay workers posted to Switzerland throughout their posting.
Posted workers continue to report to their employer outside Switzerland.
Employers based outside Switzerland must be properly established abroad and must conduct significant, steady and continuous business in their home country to be able to post workers to Switzerland. If the employer conducts regular, stable and ongoing business in Switzerland, it must set itself up in Switzerland and manage its employees in accordance with standard Swiss employment legislation.