Many projects in Switzerland cannot be carried out without the deployment of people from abroad. However, it is not so easy for foreign companies to find the right information so that they can take all the right precautions.
In practice, we see that this is particularly difficult around permits. On the one hand, there are 26 cantons in Switzerland, some of which have different processes and procedures, and on the other hand, there is often the opinion that EU citizens do not need a permit.
In principle, however, every non-Swiss national with an employer abroad needs a work permit for a project assignment in Switzerland.
Case study:
The management consultancy Consult Germany AG has won a major contract with Drinks Switzerland AG. They are to develop a new expansion strategy and support its implementation. Drinks Switzerland AG does not have the necessary capacity or know-how for this. When they were looking for the right company for this task, they came across Consult Germany AG.
It was agreed that the development of a new expansion strategy and its implementation could take several months and, due to the size of Drinks Switzerland AG, would also require several people.
The project plan foresees that the project will take 18 months and that between 8-10, people will be on-site in Switzerland, not all the time but most of the time. Consult Germany AG agreed to the project without considering beforehand what this would entail.
The first employees should already start within the next 2-3 weeks, whereby Drinks Switzerland AG has asked to submit the corresponding work permits by the first day of employment at the latest. During this time, the project contract will still be signed.
The project is to start on 1 September 2023 and 6 people are to be on site continuously from 1 September to 15 October 2023. During this period, it will then be determined what the subsequent assignments will look like.
Question
What type of permit must be obtained for the 6 people?
Solution
If the employees of Consult Deutschland AG do not need to be permanently on site, there are several authorization options:
- Notification procedure up to 90 days in a calendar year (without taking up residence in Switzerland)
- 120-day permit up to a maximum of 120 days either in a calendar year or 12 months or for 4 months at a stretch (without taking up residence in Switzerland)
- Short-stay permit for more than 4 months (with residence in Switzerland)
Since the employees are employed in Germany, they need a work permit to work for Drinks Switzerland AG.
The "simplest" option is the notification procedure. However, it is important to note that Consult Germany AG only has 90 calendar days in a calendar year for which it can carry out such a notification procedure. If these 90 calendar days are used up, then only the other two previously mentioned options are available.
Consult Germany AG has not yet used any reporting days in 2023, even though they have 2 other employees in Switzerland working for another client. A 120-day permit was obtained for each of the other two employees.
Consult Germany AG is now considering which type of permit is the best option for the next assignment. However, they would like to avoid having an employee take up residence in Switzerland for the year 2023, as this involves even more costs (fixed rent in Switzerland). Some of the characteristics have been summarized in a table so that a decision can be made.
|
Notification procedure |
120 days work permit |
|
|
Max number of workdays |
90 days |
120 days |
|
Is it for all nationals possible? |
No. For all EU-/EFTA.-nationals but only for Non- EU-/EFTA-nationals, which had been residing in an EU-/EFTA-member state for 12 months beforehand. |
Yes, for all nationals possible. |
|
Lead time until receipt of approval |
8 days for the first time |
2-4 weeks need to be considered for the application process |
|
Has an application to be filed? |
Only filling out an online declaration |
Yes |
|
Required documents |
Passport, social security number, place of work, specific workdays, salary |
Justification letter, passport, CV, diploma, assignment confirmation, project agreement |
|
Are there governmental charges to be paid? |
None |
Yes |
|
Does the equivalent Swiss salary have to be calculated and paid? |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Which equivalent Swiss salary according to the salary schedule must be considered? |
Lower quartil |
Median |
|
Can the working days in Switzerland be used flexibly? |
No, the specific workdays must be notified beforehand. |
Yes, the 120 days can be used whenever the need arises, without any notification of those. |
|
Do the number of working days apply to each employee individually? |
No, the employer has 90 days for all employees. |
Yes, the 120 days are counted by permit holder. |
Consult Germany AG decides to use the notification procedure for the first assignment, especially since the project contract has not yet been signed, and to keep the salary costs (only the lower quartile is decisive) as low as possible.
After that, however, they would like to obtain a 120-day permit for each employee so that they can act as flexibly as possible in response to the wishes of Drinks Switzerland AG.
Conclusion
Depending on the situation, the registration procedure or the 120-day permit is the better solution. It is therefore necessary to examine the corresponding advantages and disadvantages of each assignment.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
