The Swiss Supreme Court decided that the country’s companies must pay part of the rent for employees who work from their homes at the request of company managers.
The court adopted that resolution in April 2019 and upheld this week with the case of a company that alleged that it had not reached an agreement with a worker before the coronavirus pandemic and therefore did not feel obligated to pay part of the rent.
The Court rejected those arguments and ruled that all workers are entitled to claim the benefit from starting to carry out the tasks at home, according to the reported local daily Tages-Anzeiger.
In addition, the Court considered the right to request compensation retroactively, even when the person has already left the company.
Thomas Geiser, professor of labor law at Saint Gallen University, said: “The law requires employers to reimburse their employees for all expenses incurred to carry out their work.”
The specialist clarified that this benefit only applies to those who work in a dependency relationship.
The judgment does not contemplate, according to Geiser, that compensation can be requested because of the suspension of activities caused by the coronavirus, but refers to long-term work and at the request of the employer.
The secretary-general of the Swiss Confederation of Trade Unions, Luca Cirigliano, declared that he considers this sentence positive because he considers it unfair that companies use telework to save the rent on their offices and derive costs towards their employees.
Switzerland recorded 30,761 coronavirus cases and 1,915 deaths from the disease, according to its latest official data.
