[Switzerland] Working from home obligation: the new rules

From today an obligation to work from home goes into place in Switzerland. The announcement was made as part of a wide range of new measures put in place to manage the worsening COVID-19 situation in the country, The Local reports.

One of the measures is a mandatory requirement to work from home, replacing the recommendation to work from home which had been in effect through much of 2021. 

Details of the working from home obligation

The specific nature of the working from home obligation has not yet been laid out by the Swiss government but it is expected to resemble a similar rule put in place in the winter of 2020. 

Those rules required everyone who can work from home to do so all across Switzerland. 

Anyone who can work from home is obligated to work from home under the new rules. 

Therefore while bakers, for example, will still be allowed to go into their bakery, most office jobs will now be performed from home. 

If doing so would require a complex technical set-up to be installed at home, workers will be allowed to go into the office. 

Government employees are included in the mandate and must work from home if possible. 

If working from home is impossible

If remote working is not an option, masks will be mandatory inside buildings when several people are present in the same room, even if the safety distances of 1.5 metres can be respected. 

Anyone wanting to remain unmasked must obtain a medical certificate from a doctor. 

Regular testing may be required, there are no indications yet whether working from home will change any requirement for people to be vaccinated or recovered from the virus. 

Can anyone refuse to follow the mandate?

No, from today the law is set in stone and is reportedly unlikely to be susceptible to a legal challenge. 

Speaking to 20 Minutes, Roger Rudolph - an expert in labour law at the University of Zurich - said that suing an employer or the government was unlikely to get individuals very far. 

“The passing of the working from home obligation is based on a solid legal basis,” Mr Rudolph said. 

The Swiss government 

In its announcement, the Swiss government said it was important that everyone show solidarity in the ongoing fight against COVID-19; including reducing contact as much as possible. 

“If we want to reduce the number of contacts over the next few weeks, we have to do everything we can to make working from home really feasible,” Health Minister Alain Berset said. 

Swiss President Guy Parmelin said the home working obligation was a “decisive element in the slowdown in the number of cases.”

Source: The Local

(Links and quotes via original reporting)

From today an obligation to work from home goes into place in Switzerland. The announcement was made as part of a wide range of new measures put in place to manage the worsening COVID-19 situation in the country, The Local reports.

One of the measures is a mandatory requirement to work from home, replacing the recommendation to work from home which had been in effect through much of 2021. 

Details of the working from home obligation

The specific nature of the working from home obligation has not yet been laid out by the Swiss government but it is expected to resemble a similar rule put in place in the winter of 2020. 

Those rules required everyone who can work from home to do so all across Switzerland. 

Anyone who can work from home is obligated to work from home under the new rules. 

Therefore while bakers, for example, will still be allowed to go into their bakery, most office jobs will now be performed from home. 

If doing so would require a complex technical set-up to be installed at home, workers will be allowed to go into the office. 

Government employees are included in the mandate and must work from home if possible. 

If working from home is impossible

If remote working is not an option, masks will be mandatory inside buildings when several people are present in the same room, even if the safety distances of 1.5 metres can be respected. 

Anyone wanting to remain unmasked must obtain a medical certificate from a doctor. 

Regular testing may be required, there are no indications yet whether working from home will change any requirement for people to be vaccinated or recovered from the virus. 

Can anyone refuse to follow the mandate?

No, from today the law is set in stone and is reportedly unlikely to be susceptible to a legal challenge. 

Speaking to 20 Minutes, Roger Rudolph - an expert in labour law at the University of Zurich - said that suing an employer or the government was unlikely to get individuals very far. 

“The passing of the working from home obligation is based on a solid legal basis,” Mr Rudolph said. 

The Swiss government 

In its announcement, the Swiss government said it was important that everyone show solidarity in the ongoing fight against COVID-19; including reducing contact as much as possible. 

“If we want to reduce the number of contacts over the next few weeks, we have to do everything we can to make working from home really feasible,” Health Minister Alain Berset said. 

Swiss President Guy Parmelin said the home working obligation was a “decisive element in the slowdown in the number of cases.”

Source: The Local

(Links and quotes via original reporting)