Expatriation to Switzerland from Non-EU/EFTA: 12 months previous employment required

Employees coming from outside EU/EFTA, being expatriated to Switzerland, need to have 12 months previous employment at the legal entity outside EU/EFTA. If they are employed at a legal entity in EU/EFTA only one month of previous employment is required.

The 12 months requirement for outside EU/EFTA comes from the GATS agreement, which is valid for all WTO member states. So, if a company expatriates an employee from a Non-WTO state this rule doesn’t need to be applied and the 12 months previous employment should not be required.

Recommendation: Swiss cantonal offices may be strict about this 12 months requirement. Should your expatriation not be from a WTO member state you have the right to challenge this and send employees to Switzerland who haven’t reached 12 months employment at your foreign legal entity.

Please don’t hesitate to International HR Services Ltd. for further questions on this topic.