There are often more disadvantages than advantages for US citizens living abroad. One advantage, however, is that non-US subsidiaries of US companies must comply with various US employment laws when hiring, promoting and firing US citizens abroad. These include:
Title VII: prohibits discrimination and harassment based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
ADAAA: prohibits discrimination based on disability.
ADEA: prohibits discrimination against individuals age 40 and older.
According to the below article, the application to employees working overseas depends on whether (1) the employee is a U.S. citizen and (2) the employer is an American employer or controlled by an American entity:
An excerpt that is particularly amusing in Switzerland is:
" ADEA bars age discrimination and also explicitly prohibits: statements or specifications in job notices or advertisements of age preference and limitations ”.
So, if a recruiter advertises on behalf of a US firm in Switzerland and specifies an age range, is that a violation of the US employment law, ADEA? Or is it in violation only if a US citizen sees it and doesn't apply for it because of his/her age?
"Unsere Mandantin, eine US-Firma in der Agglomeration Zug baut ihr Team weiter aus und sucht per sofort oder nach Vereinbarung einen hilfsbereiten, belastbaren, service- und kundenorientierten, 20-28-jährigen Teamplayer (m/w) als ... "
This one sounds a lot like General Electric, the new owner of Alstom Power:
"Our client, based in the greater Zurich area, is the Swiss subsidiary of a global diversified industrial US-based company and -technology leader through innovation within three well-balanced segments – Commercial Industrial, Defense and Power. "
So from now on we can assume that if they mention age, it means no Americans need apply, just like German mother tongue means only interested in Swiss applicants
Descrimination in employment sector in switzerland ??
Of course, there is.
Most jobs are offered only if you are under 35, i have seen cleaning jobs the will hire only people from portugal, for some cleaning jobs at the airport(zurich) you have to have good kowledge of spanish or italian.
Is this switzerland or Italy or spain ??
The HR companys hire currently only people who fit the description at least at 95%, no career changers, because they don't have the time to learn the new job.They make an assesment only if the "papers" are right, they don't have time for proper interviews .
I have seen job offers, they describe the age of the"succesful" applicant with the age from 20-30 to meet the average age of the team.
The chicken grill at the lake zurich will only hire people with a swiss passport, because customers expect a swiss(men or women) behind the window.
Well there is that (you're probably being sarcastic though )
I highly doubt the same is true for Swiss companies in the US... Imagine actually having to stick to notice periods instead of firing people as you please, or pay into a pension fund no matter what...
Yes tongue in cheek, but really about time american companies and politicians stopped trying to dictate to the world! No wonder they are considered as modern day hitlers!
According to the above articles, some US labor laws are to be followed by US companies abroad when dealing with US citizen employees, generally to the extent that these US laws are more stringent and not in violation of local law. The remedy for violation allows the US citizen employee, even though abroad, to file a discrimination complaint with the US government, such as the EEOC.
The age discrimination law could be useful for US citizen employees, who are over 40 years old, as General Electric begins its layoffs in Switzerland after acquiring Alstom Power. GE will be held to a higher standard.
This is the EEOC page start the complaint process:
So Swiss (or really anyone) can be let go for whatever dubious reasons whereas US citizens, despite working in CH, cannot because for them it's discrimination? Yes, that seems fair
Interesting development regarding the Director Engineering position at General Electric Switzerland. The recruiting firm's website no longer mentions the age requirements (which it did yesterday):
This was removed: "You are between 35 and 55 years of age."
A quick search on "Alter" (age) in Jobs.ch yields a 33 page list of jobs, most indicating an age range for the job applicants. One curiosity is that Kelly Services (Schweiz) AG and Manpower Schweiz, which are Swiss subsidiaries of US companies, indicate age ranges in their advertisements for client companies. Would they also be violating US anti-age discrimination law by doing this? If so, compliance with US law would put them at a competitive disadvantage against non-US recruiting firms: