Staff representatives: the Council of States keeps a draft

A representative mandate does not make dismissal impossible. On 30 September 2026 the Council of States maintained measure 14 on wage protection linked to the Switzerland-EU package. The vote was 26 to 19, according to ATS as relayed by the Parliamentary Services. It keeps a draft. That draft is not in force.

What the Council of States maintained

Measure 14 is one of the wage-protection measures linked to the Switzerland-EU package. The senators kept it. They did not follow their committee.

On 11 August 2026 the Economic Affairs and Taxation Committee of the Council of States had proposed to delete the measure, by 8 votes to 4, with 1 abstention. The plenary of 30 September did not follow that proposal.

Guy Parmelin said that the full set of fourteen measures should not be weakened. Fabio Regazzi recalled that the 14th did not command consensus.

Who is covered

The measure covers three groups. Elected representatives of the workers. Members of a joint body of an occupational pension institution. Members of national branch committees of an extended collective employment agreement.

The field is businesses with at least 50 employees, about 2 per cent of businesses.

If the employer wants to dismiss one of these persons, the employer must start a prior-notice procedure. The procedure is there to seek a solution and to avoid the dismissal. It does not prohibit it.

Pierre-Yves Maillard spoke of 0.1 per cent of private-sector employees, that is 5 to 6 cases a year. He spoke of symbolic cases. He said the measure does not absolutely prevent a dismissal. These figures are a reported statement. They are not a SECO statistic.

What the draft of 11 February provides

The Federal Council draft of 11 February 2026 is the text the senators maintained. It provides that a notice given before the end of the interview would not be void. It would be abusive.

According to the SECO press release of 11 February 2026, failure to follow the procedure would lead to compensation of at least four and at most ten monthly salaries. A slight error could be repaired without this sanction. A dismissal with no interview at all would be hit more heavily.

These amounts come from the draft of 11 February 2026. The vote of 30 September does not set them.

What is not yet the law

Measure 14 is not in force. The vote of 30 September does not bring it into application.

Today an open-ended contract ends by notice, with a notice period. That is the frame of articles 335 and 335c of the Code of Obligations. A dismissal with an abusive motive remains valid. Lawful trade-union activity can be such a motive (art. 336). The compensation is at most six months' salary (art. 336a). That rule is already law. It is not measure 14.

The prior-notice procedure in the draft is not the notice period. The scale of four to ten months and the consequence of the interview sit in the draft of 11 February 2026. They do not apply while that draft is not in force.

The draft covers the three mandates described above, in businesses with at least 50 employees. It does not cover other people merely because they belong to a union.

Common questions

• Is the protection of representatives already in force? No. On 30 September 2026 the Council of States maintained a draft. That draft is not the law.
• Does this measure prohibit dismissal? No. It provides a prior-notice procedure to seek a solution. Pierre-Yves Maillard said it does not absolutely prevent a dismissal.
• Does it apply to every union member and every business? No. It covers three mandates, in businesses with at least 50 employees.
• Was the compensation of four to ten months set on 30 September? No. Those amounts come from the draft of 11 February 2026, according to the SECO press release of that day.
• Are 0.1 per cent and 5 to 6 cases a SECO statistic? No. They are figures stated by Pierre-Yves Maillard. The dispatch reports them.
• Would a notice before the end of the interview be void? No, under the draft of 11 February 2026. It would be abusive, not void. That draft is not in force.
• What should be gathered before asking the question? The contract, the representative mandate, the notice and the writings on the interview.

Avocados AI's Basic plan costs CHF 4.99 a month, the price of a coffee. It is there to organise the notice, the representative mandate and the writings, and to prepare the questions. It does not replace a lawyer's review of the file. The guide to Swiss employment law sets out the frame of the contract, the notice period and dismissal.

Sources

Parliamentary Services, dispatch of 30 September 2026, measure 14 of the Switzerland-EU package, 26 votes to 19 according to ATS as relayed by those services. SECO press release of 11 February 2026 on the Federal Council draft. Press release of the Economic Affairs and Taxation Committee of the Council of States of 11 August 2026. Code of Obligations, articles 335, 335c, 336 and 336a. Only the official publication is authoritative.