Remote work in the country of residence – for cross-border commuters
ETH Zurich enables employees who are cross-border commuters to combine their work at the ETH work location in Switzerland with remote work in their EU/EFTA country of residence. Certain principles and provisions are to be considered.
Principles
ETH Zurich has defined the following principles for remote work (e.g. home office) of cross-boarder commuters holding a external page G permit and EU/EFTA nationality or employees with a Swiss passport residing in an EU or EFTA country outside Switzerland. These principles consider the legal framework and must be complied with when individual agreements are made between employees and their supervisors:
- Your contractually agreed place of work is in Switzerland.
- Authorisation from your supervisor is required for remote work in your country of residence.
- The maximum amount of work performed for ETH Zurich in your country of residence is 40 per cent (with an employment level of 100 per cent).
Exceptions to the maximum of 40 per cent:
- If you reside in Italy, a maximum of 25 per cent applies.
- For multiple employment: For all countries of residence, the situation regarding social security status for multiple employment must be checked and may have an influence on the maximum percentages.
Remote work is based on trust and personal responsibility.
The provisions for Switzerland apply accordingly for remote work from your EU/EFTA country of residence.
Reporting obligation: Your places of work
Due to tax regulations, as a cross-border commuter with residence in France you are obliged to report the actual places where your work is performed. Please use the at the beginning of December for the current year. It is filed in your personnel file.
We recommend cross-border commuters from other countries (e.g. Germany, Austria or Italy) to also use this calendar in order to keep an eye on compliance with the above mentioned maximum percentages of remote work from their country of residence.
Further information
The percentages for working from the country of residence mentioned above under Principles consider the legal framework and agreements between Switzerland and the countries of residence.
If these percentages are adhered to, you continue to be covered by social insurance in Switzerland as a cross-border commuter.
The situation remains reserved regarding the social security status for multiple employment. This is the case if you have two or more employers and/or regularly work for one employer in at least two different EU or EFTA states. Multiple employment must be reported to your HR Administrator for clarification of social insurance status before you start work. In the case of multiple employment, the country of residence is responsible for coordinating social insurance. As a rule, only the legislation of one member state applies. The competent social security authority issues an A1 certificate and determines which legislation is applicable.
As an employee with a G permit, you have a duty to regularly inform yourself about tax regulations and ensure that you comply with them.
There are EU/EFTA countries for which ETH Zurich allows you to exceed the permitted 40 per cent of work from your country of residence by an additional maximum of 10 per cent in exceptional cases.
As an employee, you must submit a written application to your supervisor stating the percentage (maximum 50 per cent) and a justification. If they agree with the request, they will forward it to the responsible HR Partners who will confirm the request or reject it in justified cases. Together with the decision, they file the application in the personnel file. The application process can be done by email.
Note:
- Employees who reside in France are not permitted to surpass the threshold, as more complex agreements apply between Switzerland and France and your tax situation will change if the 40 per cent limit is exceeded.
- For employees who reside in Italy, a maximum of 25 per cent applies.
For cross-boarder communters the same provisions apply to business trips or secondments as for employees who reside in Switzerland. More information is available under Working in an international context, where further information on business trips and secondments are provided.
Note: If you are resident in France, you may work a maximum of 40 per cent in France. This 40 per cent includes both remote work and business trips in France.