Hope you are all enjoying the Christmas period in this lovely country.
A friend, is an EU citizen with B permit living in CH since 2019. They got a limited contract job (6 months) in a different Canton for a big Pharma company through one of the known recruitment agencies with the possibility to be extended further later on. Daily commute is not possible as it's too far, so they will need to move. Now, some questions arise, and it would be appreciated if any of you can add some valuable inputs:
1) Anything specific to look out for in a contract setup like this? (employed by agency who "lends" you to a Pharma company)
2) Knowing that changing Canton is probably resetting the years needed to live in one Canton for passport application, how can someone tackle this in this scenario? Is it possible to work in a different Canton temporarily withouth deregistering from current Gemeinde?
3) How easy is to get accommodation when the job contract is only limited? Would rentors be OK with this? How would it work for example with utility bills, internet connection etc?
We are in a recessionary period so cutbacks, losses, retrenchment etc is the norm for such a period. I'd want some very good reasons to up sticks and move to another canton for a six months contract that might or might not be renewed. If the contract was not renewed what would his situation be, how is the job market at the location where he is heading from and so on..
Since they have only been in Switzerland for three years (7 to go…), I wouldn’t worry about the minimum number of years you have to spend in one canton and one gemeinde. The minimum period varies between 2-5 years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_nationality_law
I certainly wouldn't uproot my family for a 6 month contract. When my company moved from Nyon to Zug several people kept their main residence there, rented a room in Zug and went back on the weekends. Depending on the expectations on when people actually need to be in the office this might work really well and would certainly be the route I would take.
1) Be aware that ALL the employment costs come out of the fee. If the agency pays you 800 a day say, then deducted from that will be:
The agency payroll fee
Employer social contributions
Employee social contributions
Holiday pay hedging
Second pillar pension
Tax at source (if applicable)
Usually (not always) expenses are not claimable. Where they are, they're deducted from the fee, but they're reduce the taxable amount.
2) You can be a weekly commuter. I used to do it between BL and VD. What matters is where your home life is.
3) I stayed in a hotel, but could have rented an apartment or got a flatshare. As I had my own GmbH, this was paid for by my company, and thus tax deductable.
How far is the commute? I commute 1.5 hours each way - given that it is a big pharma company, they are most likely allowed to work from home at least 2-3 days per week?
I would not relocate for a 6 month contract unless absolutely desperate.
If it's Zürich to Basel, plenty of people commute by car and train in both directions. It's not much fun - but for even a couple of years, it's manageable.
one of the things that I would check is how are the free days organized, meaning where is the office of the contract company and where is the Pharma company and if the holiday times are the same. I had contractors that had to take their holiday day for our cantonal free day.
and as already written, which percentage stays with you and which goes to contract company (shouldn't be more than 30%; that was the rule in my previous Pharma company; we didn't wanted to have contracts with companies taking too much from the people they are lending to us)
Largely true. However, I would double check this with the Payroll team, for instance. I was told if I worked for GE based company (pre-Covid & remote working) I would be taxed at GE tax rates and not ZG.
That sounds very strange. Who told you? I worked for a BS company (physically present and remotely) and didn't pay BS tax rates. I worked for an AG company (physically persent and remotely) and didn't pay AG tax rates. I currently work for a ZH company (100% remotely) and I don't pay ZH tax rates.
Always and only the tax rates of BL and my gemeinde.