Employers Must Cover Work Space Expenses for Home Office Work

Precedential Decision by Judiciary or Regulatory Agency

Authors: Ueli Sommer, Partner and Marco Bächtold, Associate - Walder Wyss Ltd.

On April 23, 2019, the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland held that employers must pay for rental costs for private rooms in which an employee works during home office if telework is mandated and/or the employer does not provide a workplace for the employee. Further, compensation is owed for the workspace irrespective of whether any additional rental costs do incur due to home office. In cases of shared usage (private/work), the costs are divided proportionally (i.e. here, an employee working from her/his flat is to be paid the adequate rental costs for one room). Going forward employment agreements must provide for sufficient lump sum payments for employees’ home office expenses.