Working in Switzerland

Working hours in Switzerland

The average actual working hours in Switzerland are 31.2 hours per week. However, this also includes part-time workers. With a full-time job (100% workload), the average weekly working hours are 40.2 hours.

Important: this value refers to the annual working hours deducted by the days of holiday leave. The normal weekly working hours for a full-time position are 41.7 hours.

Almost half of employees in Switzerland have a flexible working time model. This means they don’t have to work at specific times, for example, as long as they reach their weekly or monthly hours. Moreover, almost 40% of all employees work from home at least occasionally.

Annual holiday leave and public holidays

In Switzerland, the minimum entitlement to holiday leave is four weeks per year. For people under the age of 20, it’s even five weeks. In some industries, collective employment contracts are sometimes used to regulate higher holiday entitlements.

Public holidays vary by canton (in German only) – with the exception of 1 August, the national holiday. The public holidays recognized in all cantons are:

• New Year

• Ascension Day

• Christmas Day (25 December only)

In addition to 1 August, cantons may treat a maximum of eight other public holidays as equivalent to a Sunday.

Good to know: if a public holiday falls on a non-workday, you may not compensate for this.

Part-time work in Switzerland

In Switzerland, more than a third of the gainfully employed work part-time. The rate for women (58%) is higher than for men (around 20%). The main reasons for working part-time are childcare and other family responsibilities.

Part-time employment is considered to be less than 90%.