What does Swiss politics think about Home Office / Remote Work?

How does Swiss politics deal with this new form of work? And: How can you monitor parliamentary interventions that have to do with remote work / home office? Here are some questions to which politik.ch provides answers.

• Does the Federal Council feel obliged to promote working from home?

No, the Swiss government does not consider itself obliged to promote remote work. This is what emerges from the press release of the 26th of August 2020, which responds to SVP National Councillor Thomas Burgherr’s interpellation 20.3860.

• Does the Federal Council consider legislative action on this new form of work necessary?

No, the Swiss government does not consider legislative action on remote work to be necessary as “current legislation provides satisfactory answers to the legal problems of teleworking”. This is what was in fact announced on the 18th of November 2020 in response to the interpellation 20.4029 from Green National Councillor Greta Gysin, who had explicitly called for measures to improve regulation and protect the health of employees. The Federal Council reacted in a similar way to the postulate 20.3529 from Socialist National Councillor Mathias Reynard.

• How does it look like the long-term situation for cross-border workers? Do they remain socially insured in Switzerland even when they are working from home? 

The long-term situation for cross-border workers who currently work from home is still uncertain. National Councillor Corina Gredig (Liberal Greens) submitted the interpellation 20.4218 on the 25th of September 2020. Her aim was to clarify the long-term situation of cross-border workers: What is the fiscal and social security status after the transitional measures due to Covid-19? The Federal Council responded on the 11th of November 2020, referring the matter to the Federal Department of Finance, which intends to examine an appropriate update of the fiscal rules currently in place.

• Would it soon be possible to deduct taxes for teleworking? 

According to the answer of the 19th of August 2020 to the interpellation 20.3522, the Federal Council does not want to promote the taxation of remote work, nor does he want to create new deductions. Since negative tax incentives arise anyway, the Swiss government would like to review the current Business Expenses Act and draft it in a more neutral manner.

• How do Swiss cantons handle this extraordinary situation?

9 Swiss cantons are discussing proposals similar to those made at the federal level, concerning the promotion, taxation and evaluation of remote work. Valais, Bern and Aargau have the most proposals, with three each in the last 12 months.

The following parliamentary interventions appeared as search results on the topic (‘Home Office’ or ‘Home-Office’ or ‘Homeoffice’ or ‘Teleworking’ or ‘Working from home’).

National: 20.4218, 20.3864, 20.3844, 20.3646, 20.3529, 20.3860, 20.3522, 20.4029, 20.5595, 20.3308, 20.3188
Cantonal: AG: 20.88, 20.296, 20.108, BE: 2020.RRGR.169, 2020.RRGR.184, 2020.RRGR.198, BL: 2020/329, 2020/448, LU: A 258, P 247, SH: 2020/25, SO: 0111-2020, 0079-2020, VD: 2020.09_POS_2020.06.196, 2020.09_POS_2020.06.188, 2020.11_MO_2020.11.355, ZG: 3128, ZH: 318/2020, 393/2020