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Lucerne’s commercial chief Gaudenz Zemp (57) knows a trick. This is aimed at preventing foreign workers from overburdening the local welfare system, and is even better than the SVP’s limitation initiative, the merchant writes in a letter to the editor in the “Luzerner Zeitung”.
The trick is this: companies only hire foreign workers for a limited period of 364 days. After the deadline, they extend the contract, again only for 364 days. This procedure can be repeated as needed.
The supposed advantage for companies: Workers only receive a short-term L residence permit from the authorities due to fixed-term contracts, and they have to leave Switzerland immediately after the contract expires. “That’s better and faster than having to build an inefficient contingent machine later,” writes Zemp, who sits on the Lucerne cantonal council for the FDP.
Controversial chain contracts
Solo: The trick is very controversial! So-called ‘chain contracts’, as Zemp recommends to its SME colleagues, are only allowed if there is an objective reason. This is the case, for example, when a position has to be refinanced every year or when a person is assigned new tasks. Such contracts are not permitted if they serve to circumvent protection against dismissal or to prevent legal claims from arising.
Law professor Roger Rudolph of the University of Zurich does not want to comment on the individual case. In general, however, he states “that I am very skeptical of the proposed procedure when it comes to depriving employees of social rights.” And furthermore: “It becomes critical no later than from the second repetition, but possibly even earlier.”
SP-Roth: “Inhuman Declarations”
SP Lucerne President David Roth (35) is outraged. His party had drawn attention to the controversial content of the letter to the editor on social media. “The chief of commerce, Zemp, obviously sees people as goods that can be returned at will,” says Roth. “That is inhuman.”
Furthermore, complementary measures, such as wage protection, were based on the fact that both employers and employees adhered to the rules. “If Mr. Zemp asks for abuse, it completely destroys the trust between employers and employees. Because those illegal contracts also threaten the working conditions of domestic workers, ”says Roth.
Zemp rejects the accusations
Zemp, a FDP politician, rejects the accusations. The idea did not come from him, but from the head of the cantonal migration office, Alexander Lieb. “Mr. Lieb read my letter to the editor beforehand and found it correct,” says Zemp.
He wrote the text with good intentions. “Because many employers simply do not know that there is the possibility of fixed-term contracts for one year.” But it is certainly not the idea that the contracts would extend for five or six years.
Immigration Office involved
The Migration Office as a promoter of chain contracts? Director Alexander Lieb admits that he advised employers at an event to offer foreign employees a fixed-term employment contract for one year when they first entered Switzerland.
“The Migration Office has never advocated for the improper use of a one-year fixed-term employment contract,” he emphasizes. If both parties are still satisfied with the employment relationship after one year, it makes perfect sense to enter into a permanent employment contract.
