The number of employer-employee disputes at Swiss companies has risen significantly, new data reveals. What can you do if this unfortunate situation happens to you?
Work-related disputes surged in 2025, according to a new survey carried out by AXA-ARAG legal protection insurance.
Cases of workplace harassment and unfair dismissal, for instance, increased by 36 and 26 percent respectively.
Furthermore, 14 percent more employees reported receiving either negative or inaccurate performance assessments in reference certificates even though Swiss labour law stipulates that these letters must be written in a “fair manner.”
This means such a certificate, handed out when an employee leaves, should be a truthful and non-acrimonious assessment of their performance, but at the same time it should be as “sympathetic” as factually possible.
What can you do if a conflict arises between you and your employer?
Many companies have collective labour agreements (CLAs) in place, a kind of contract that is negotiated between Switzerland’s trade unions and employers or employer organisations.
They include, among other important employment-related matters, conflict resolution procedures.
These procedures privilege negotiations and mediation in case the dispute can’t be resolved directly through communication.
READ MORE: What is a Swiss collective bargaining agreement — and how could it benefit you?
But even If your company doesn’t have a CLA, there are still different mechanisms for dispute resolutions.
Your best bet is always speaking directly with your boss and trying to resolve the issue civilly and peacefully – something the Swiss happen to excel at.
If that’s not possible, turn to your company’s Human Resources (HR) department. One of their roles in any company is handling staff issues, such as employee conflicts.
And if you are a member of a trade union or an employee association, ask them for help. It’s their obligation to intervene on your behalf in workplace disputes that don’t involve criminal offences on your part.
That’s the general picture. Other actions will depend on the exact type of the grievance.
If you are a victim of inappropriate behaviour at your workplace — for instance, bullying, sexual harassment, racial profiling/discrimination, or any other practices that are either unlawful or unacceptable — you should not remain silent.
As always, the first step is to take your case to the HR, a union or a professional association.
Hopefully, you will not need to go any further but if you do, your last resort would be legal action, which would start with your local district court and go to higher courts from there, if necessary.
READ MORE: What you should know about Switzerland’s courts
Most disputes in Switzerland are, however, resolved through other means, like mediation and conciliation, and therefore don’t end up in court.
This is a good moment to remind you about things your employer definitely cannot do and which should never cause conflicts between you: he or she can never ask questions that have nothing to do with work.
Whether in the office or out of it (for instance, in social situations) your employer can’t ask you questions about your personal life, medical history, sexual orientation, religion, or ethnicity.
If he or she asks, you don’t have to answer those, or any other uncomfortable queries, that are not related to your job.
