Employment contract (including standard employment contract)

When hiring an employee, the first thing to do is to sign an employment contract. Below is everything you need to know about employment contract, team contract and expense regulations. Including standard employment contract, standard team contract and standard expense regulations.

Content & form of the employment contract

An employment contract may be entered into orally, in writing or tacitly. To avoid ambiguity, it is recommended that it be in writing. The written form may also be requested by the employee at any time.

By entering into the employment contract, the employer undertakes to pay a salary, to pay social security contributions and to guarantee paid leave. The employee undertakes to perform the work specified by the employer. In addition, the employee is subject to a duty of loyalty and care after the conclusion of the contract. The employment contract should contain at least the following points:

Name and address of employee and employer

Duties and responsibilities of the respective position

Start and duration of the contract

Gross salary, monthly deductions, allowances, 13th month salary

Workload, working hours, overtime, night work

Notice period in compliance with the provisions of OR Art. 335a ff. 

Vacations, public holidays, rest days, educational leave

A contract only comes into force if any necessary work permits under aliens law have been obtained. In addition, it must be taken into account whether the company is subject to a collective labor agreement (CLA). If this is the case, the provisions of the CLA must be observed.

Where do I get an employment contract from?

The employment contract refers to the individual employee with whom the employment relationship is concluded and, like all contracts, an employment contract can be kept short or made very comprehensive. Accordingly, one’s own employment contract can be drafted on the basis of a standardized model employment contract or with the help of specialists. Of course, this also depends on the size of the company, the internal company guidelines and the position to be filled. In most cases, however, especially in the case of newly established companies, it is not advisable to hire a specialist to draft the contract. Even specialists boil water and work with templates.

However, in addition to the points described at the beginning, further topics must be regulated between the employee and the employer, such as, for example:

• Details on salary payment
• Details on pension plan
• Details on working hours
• Child allowances
• Time recording / absences 
• and much more.

In general, contractual terms can be divided into individual and general terms. In terms of the employment contract, this means that it either regulates only the points that are effectively individual per employee and all other points that apply to all team members are regulated by the team contract, or that the employment contract regulates all points individually and the team contract is kept short. Variant 1 results in a short employment contract that is adapted per employee and a team contract that applies to all team members and is correspondingly lower-maintenance. Variant 2 results in a long employment contract that has to be adjusted for each employee and a short or no team contract. Of course, each decision-maker is free to decide how he or she wants to handle this. Legally, both versions are correct.

Employment contract, team contract and expense regulations of quitt Business

For our customers at quitt Business, we provide the same documents as we use for our own employees. This means an employment contract that only regulates the most necessary points individually and the team contract and the expense regulations that apply to the entire team, from the apprentices to the management. The documents were drawn up in collaboration with LEXR Law Switzerland AG. The model has worked well for us, is low maintenance and, in our opinion, very fair.

If you decide to use quitt Business, our system automatically creates an employment contract for your employees and the team contract and expense regulations for your company. Of course you are also free to use your own contract or download our sample contracts and individualize them.

Click here for our sample documents

More information on the structure of our contracts

FAQ on private employment law (in German)

More information on collective labor agreements (in German)