If your company moves people to or from Switzerland you could be risking fines, both for your company and your staff, if you don’t play by the rules.

At the recent ReloAdvisor business meeting in Amsterdam, Jimmy Bruzzese from the Swiss Moving Company explained that many companies could be taking a major risk, both financially and with their company’s reputation, if they do not complete the required declarations ahead of the work taking place, and pay their staff at the Swiss rate while they are in Switzerland.

Jimmy explained that prices and wages are very high in Switzerland. So to help protect the local industry Swiss law requires all non-Swiss companies delivering goods that originate from outside the EU to Switzerland, or collecting for delivery outside the EU, to complete a declaration that includes details such as the names of the crew, their salaries, the name of the company, how long the crew will be in Switzerland, etc. They will also be required to pay the crew the same salary as a Swiss crew would receive. This would apply when a move is coming for example from Dubai, Singapore or anywhere else outside the EU and the booking agent decides to consign this move and have it delivered by a company that is not a Swiss company.

The Mover also spoke to Lenny Madussi from SGRS in Switzerland. He confirmed that this is a real problem. “90% of the companies infracting the rules are mainly doing it because they find the Swiss movers expensive, but they don't want to understand that our costs are also high,” he said, adding that, in his opinion, the controls throughout 2023 will be much more frequent.” 

So what are the alternatives? The delivering company could just send a driver, who must stay with the vehicle, and employ a Swiss company to handle the destination services or, for collections, load the vehicle.

One other option, if your company works frequently in Switzerland, is to open a Swiss office. Few non-Swiss moving companies have, however, done so.

Failure to do one of these things may result in a fine to the company of up to 5,000 Swiss Francs, and an additional fine of up to 3,000 Swiss Francs to each employee involved.  What are the chances of being caught?  Jimmy said they are not high, but there is always a danger that another competing company could inform the relevant authorities.  This could result in the police attending the delivery and fines being applied.

But that’s not the real risk.  There is a much greater risk to the company’s reputation should they be found in breach of the regulations. We live in a world of compliance.  Large corporations that provide much of the moving industry’s work require their suppliers to work to the highest standards at all times. Should the police arrive at a delivery for a corporate assignee, and expose unlawful practice, you will have some explaining to do and might risk losing a lucrative, hard-won contract. Is it really worth the risk?

The rules generally apply to any company that has people working in Switzerland for between 8 and 90 days in any year. Over 90 days additional declarations are required.  The rules are slightly different, however, in each Canton, so don’t assume the whole country is the same.  It’s not.

Photo: Jimmy Bruzzese.