Remote work: the day still fits inside fourteen hours

An evening message does not become lawful because a committee debated it. On 13 October 2026 the Economic Affairs and Taxation Committee of the Council of States closed its review of parliamentary initiative 16.484, on loosening the rules around remote work. It proposes a wider daily window for people who work remotely and a shorter rest. The Council of States has not voted. Until then the Labour Act in force on 1 October 2026 applies.

Fourteen hours for each worker

Article 10 paragraph 3 places each worker's day and evening work inside a span of fourteen hours, including breaks and statutory overtime. A person who starts at 7 a.m. reaches the edge of that span at 9 p.m.

Paragraph 2 measures something else. With the agreement of the staff representation or, failing that, of a majority of the workers concerned, the business may already set its day and evening work between 5 a.m. and midnight, inside a span of seventeen hours. That span belongs to the business. It does not stretch each person's day to seventeen hours.

Day work runs from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., evening work from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. (art. 10 para. 1). After that, night work begins, which article 16 prohibits outside the cases it reserves.

The maximum week remains 45 hours for industrial businesses, office staff, technical and other employees, including sales staff in large retail businesses. It is 50 hours for other workers (art. 9). A wider window on one day does not lengthen that week.

Eleven hours of rest, in a row

Article 15a grants at least eleven consecutive hours of rest. For an adult, that rest may fall to eight hours once a week, if the average over two weeks reaches eleven hours.

The breaks in article 15 are a different rule. They last at least a quarter of an hour if the day exceeds five and a half hours, half an hour beyond seven hours, and one hour beyond nine hours. A break counts as work when the person may not leave their post.

Sunday still needs a permit

From 11 p.m. on Saturday to 11 p.m. on Sunday, employing a worker is prohibited (art. 18). An exception requires a permit (art. 19). A worker cannot be assigned to Sunday work without consent. Temporary Sunday work opens a wage supplement of 50 per cent. A Sunday of no more than five hours is compensated with time off. Beyond five hours, 24 consecutive hours of compensatory rest are due in the previous or the following week (art. 20).

What the committee decided on 13 October

The committee adopted its draft by 7 votes to 2, with 3 abstentions. It follows the National Council on the scope, article 28a of the draft, and on shortening daily rest, article 28d. It explains the shorter rest by the disappearance of the commute on remote-work days.

The draft covers workers over 18 who agree to work outside the employer's premises. It moves the remote-work window from 14 to 17 hours, and minimum rest from 11 to 9 hours. In that draft the shortened rest may be interrupted for an emergency, with compensation.

The committee departs from the National Council on the other points.

• It wants to remove the right to disconnect from article 8a of the draft, by 8 votes to 3. It considers that the right applies even without an article that names it.
• It wants to remove Sunday work from article 28e of the draft, by 9 votes to 2. The National Council wanted to allow, by agreement, up to five hours on no more than nine Sundays a year, with a wage supplement.
• A rule in the Code of Obligations passed only with the president's casting vote. By 10 votes to 1 it follows the Federal Council: no separate chapter on the remote-work contract, unlike the National Council.

Each point has a minority proposal. The Council of States will take up the matter in the winter session. On 21 May 2025 the Federal Council had supported the core of the loosening and wanted the right to disconnect written into the Act. The text of 13 October 2026 removes that provision.

A salary of CHF 120,000 does not change the timetable

The same day the committee dealt with another item, motion 24.3779. It proposes that its council adopt it by 7 votes to 3, with 2 abstentions. The motion asks for more flexibility on working time and rest for high-earning workers. The threshold it refers to is an annual salary above CHF 120,000. A minority finds the criterion insufficient and the amount too low. The Council of States has not adopted it.

What these texts do not decide

They do not amend a current contract. A remote-work agreement, a collective agreement or internal rules may be stricter than the draft. The draft is not in force.

The Labour Act does not cover every role. A senior managerial function is excluded (art. 3 let. d). Public administrations, in the main, follow another regime (art. 2).

The window and the rest under the Labour Act, and overtime under article 321c of the Code of Obligations, remain two questions. The first sets ceilings for the protection of health. The second says when work beyond the agreed hours is due, compensated or paid with a supplement.

The committee states that the right not to be reachable already exists. That sentence creates no procedure, no time limit and no compensation. A call during rest is read with article 15a, the contract and the instructions already given.

Common questions

• Can a remote-work day already be spread over 17 hours? No. For each worker, article 10 paragraph 3 keeps fourteen hours. The seventeen hours in the draft await the vote of the chambers.
• Is the right to disconnect written into the Act? No. The National Council wanted to name it. The Council of States committee wants to remove that article, on the view that the right already exists.
• Is Sunday work from home free? No. The prohibition in article 18 remains. The committee removed the exception planned for remote work.
• Does an annual salary of CHF 120,000 release someone from the timetable? No. Motion 24.3779 is not an Act.
• What should be gathered before asking the question? The contract, the remote-work agreement, the internal rules, the agreed timetable and the messages that set availability.

Avocados AI's Basic plan costs CHF 4.99 a month, the price of a coffee. It is there to organise these papers and 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, working time and salary.

Sources

Parliamentary Services, press release of the Economic Affairs and Taxation Committee of the Council of States of 13 October 2026, item 16.484 and motion 24.3779. Federal Act on Work in Industry, Crafts and Commerce, articles 2, 3, 9, 10, 15, 15a, 16, 18, 19 and 20, text in force on 1 October 2026, checked on Fedlex on 24 October 2026. Federal Council opinion of 21 May 2025 on item 16.484. Only the official publication is authoritative.