Work rate

Notion

The activity rate determines the number of hours an employee usually works each week. This activity rate must be agreed upon between the employer and the employee. It will depend on the needs of the company and the wishes of the employee.

Ancillary activity

An employee who has only a low activity rate at work sometimes tries to accumulate small jobs to make ends meet. This can be problematic because the employee may not respect the legal rest periods or the maximum length of the work week.

In addition, if a cross-border worker is gainfully employed at a certain rate at his/her place of residence, the employer may find him/herself obliged to pay social security contributions in the country in which the employee lives.

Parenthood

The arrival of a new member of the employee's family can disrupt the employee's life and balance between family and professional life. Many young parents ask to reduce their workload. How should the employer react if the employee's position requires a 100% activity rate or if he/she simply does not wish to comply with the employee's request?

Vacation

The Swiss Code of Obligations stipulates that the employee is entitled to at least 4 weeks of vacation per year. How to calculate the number of vacation days for a part-time employee or an employee with irregular activity?

Public holidays

When an employee works part-time, public holidays sometimes fall on his/her day off. Is he/she entitled to an extra day off?

Equality between women and men

The Law on Equality between Women and Men stipulates that it is forbidden to discriminate directly or indirectly against an employee on the basis of her sex, particularly in terms of salary. In the context of part-time work, women are over-represented and in the majority. 

If an employer pays his/her part-time employees, regardless of their gender, a proportionally lower salary than full-time employees, can this be considered wage discrimination based on the Law on Equality?

Modification-leave

Change of employment rate must be agreed upon by the parties. If the employer accepts a request to reduce or increase the employee's rate of employment, this does not pose a problem in principle. The situation is more delicate when the change is proposed by the employer. The employer will have to go through a modification-leave procedure.

On-call work

Useful in times of crisis, employers are increasingly resorting to on-call work. It is used in sales and catering and allows employers to have access to workers without having to promise them a certain level of activity. However, this does not mean that the employer can suddenly decide to stop using a worker when he/she has no more tasks to assign to him/her.