Lavoratori attivi nella reception di un albergo svizzero

Reduced work in Switzerland: will fight against abuses

The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs of the Swiss Confederation has tripled the number of personnel in the fight against the improper collection of compensation for short-time work and has made available 25 million Swiss francs

The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs of the Swiss Confederation has tripled its personnel in the fight against the improper collection of short-time work allowances (ILR).
Since the beginning of June 2021, SECO has had additional external auditors who have undergone intensive training as planned.
This allows the audits at employers to be significantly intensified.
Due to the pandemic the unemployment insurance paid out short-time work allowances of historic proportions.
It was therefore clear from the beginning that the fight against abuse would also have to be strongly intensified.
On August 27, 2020, the Supervisory Commission of the AD Fund therefore gave the go-ahead for an increase in the number of staff to carry out controls within the framework of the ILR and allocated an additional CHF 25 million for this purpose.

In Switzerland twenty-four months of reduced work allowance

Il lavoratore di un cantiere con una fresa — A worker on a construction site with a tiller

WTO tender carried out in record time

SECO was able to complete the WTO tender process mandated by public procurement legislation in just four and a half months to award.
The contracts with the external partners Ernst & Young (EY) and
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) went into effect on March 1, 2021.
From March to May 2021, the Unemployment Insurance Audit Service trained about 40 people from outside the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, who are now operational throughout Switzerland.

Coronavirus: extension of reduced work measures

La pandemia metterà in difficoltà l'economia nel 2020 e 2021 — Pandemic will challenge the economy in 2020 and 2021

900 abuses and 500 suspicious counts reported to SECO

As of the end of May 2021, SECO has received approximately 900 abuse reports that will be processed on a priority basis. They were received by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs via the whistleblowing platform of the Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) and the portal of the AD (work.swiss), but also in the form of communications sent directly to the Audit Service of the AD.
To date, another 500 suspicious counts have been reported to SECO by unemployment insurance funds.
SECO has carried out 131 checks on employers (situation at the end of May 2021). In 13 cases (10 percent) there was evidence of misuse, resulting in criminal charges. In 97 cases (74 percent), employers had to correct their ILR statements.
In 21 cases (16 percent), SECO confirmed that the statements were correct. To date, SECO has requested refunds totaling approximately 10.6 million Swiss francs.

Increased work flexibility for federal employees

Lavoratori altamente qualificati in città — Highly skilled workers in the city

Another 200 similar controls in the second half of 2021

SECO expects to be able to carry out another 200 such controls in the second half of 2021, thanks to the strengthening of external staff resources; a further intensification (700 controls) is planned for 2022.
The Audit Service of the AD is investigating ex officio all reports of abuse and will systematically report relevant violations under criminal law.

Switzerland is with the International Labour Organization