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Under Swiss employment law, any Swiss or foreign company employing staff in Switzerland must draw up an employment contract with the employee, for the following two reasons: 

Please note: A frequently inserted clause “this contract shall not be construed as an employment, partnership or corporate relationship…” is of no use in the circumstances of a particular case. 

Private individuals who employ household staff are also affected, provided that these employees can be described as salaried rather than self-employed.

Main legal rules

General cases

The situation must be interpreted on a case-by-case basis, taking into account all the objective circumstances, even if this means ignoring the clear clauses of the signed contract (principle of substance over form). 

To qualify as an employee, here are the different criteria to consider: 

  1. Having only one or very few customers. 
  2. Not employing any staff. 
  3. Not acting in one’s own name. 
  4. Not having proper premises. 
  5. Absence of business investments. 
  6. Not assuming the risk of default or loss. 
  7. Not determining freely the terms of working and being subject to instructions of others. 
  8. Not freely fixing the working schedule. 

Please note: these criteria are not cumulative, and each criterion may carry more weight than the others, depending on the individual situation.

Particular cases

In addition to the cases mentioned above, there are also special cases in which you can qualify as an employee. These are as follows: 

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