In traffic jams instead of working from home – because of the EU rule: a thousand cross-border commuters have to go back to the Swiss office
Because of the EU rule: Thousands of cross-border commuters have to go back to the Swiss office
Fewer traffic jams, satisfied employees: the home office requirement during the pandemic brought French cross-border commuters and Switzerland many advantages. But now a relapse is imminent.
The corona pandemic has completely changed the world of work. The watch company TAG Heuer also knows this. Its CFO Nicolas Boudin says: “If someone comes to an interview today, the first question is: ‘How many days a week can I work from home?'”
CFO Boudin understands. At its locations from Chevenez (JU) to Zurich, TAG Heuer would like to have 1000 employees and employees work from home two days a week, provided home office is possible in individual cases. But there is a fundamental problem.
During the pandemic, France issued special regulations that allowed cross-border commuters to work from home for Swiss employers without restrictions. The rule was extended again in March. It expires (probably for good) at the end of June.
“There is a lot of tension in our workforce.”
TAG Heuer must also react. From July, the watch brand will not allow its cross-border commuters to work from home for more than one day a week, while there is of course no home office limit for Swiss employees. “There is a lot of tension in our workforce,” says Nicolas Boudin.
The reason lies in EU legislation. According to this, cross-border commuters are also allowed to work a maximum of 25 percent from home in France. Otherwise & Swiss companies pay social security contributions at the place of residence of the employees, also in France. Today they handle everything via Switzerland.
More home office costs
Because the social security contributions in France are substantially higher, compared to Switzerland, companies would have to shell out 30 percent more than today, and employees 12 percent. The administrative effort would also increase unnecessarily for the company.
How much more would TAG Heuer have to pay? “I didn’t do the math and I won’t do it either,” says Nicolas Boudin. It is understandable: either Switzerland and France will find solutions or the cross-border commuters will work whenever four out of five days in the office.
Support comes from politics, including Bernese government councilor Pierre Alain Schnegg (SVP). During the pandemic, working day traffic near the border decreased sharply, Schnell emphasized at a media conference in Neuchâtel on Monday. This protects the environment and the roads in both countries, but also reduces the pressure on customs crossings.
Schnegg currently presides over the interest group Arc Jurassien, the cantons of Bern, Vaud, Jura and Neuchâtel. The Union is dying Deepen the issue of cross-border commuters in a study. According to this, 18,000 of a total of 65,000 French cross-border commuters who work in the Jura arc between Nyon and Delémont were permitted to work from home. Over 10,000 took advantage of this opportunity.
Schnegg therefore wants a lasting solution with the EU and is also counting on Annie Genevard. The politician from the French Jura is the Vice President of the French National Assembly. She is whining in Paris so that Emmanuel Macron’s government will work for a new European regulation.
Tax negotiations
Another topic that is causing debates between Switzerland and France is the tax issue. The cantons of Bern, Vaud, Jura, Neuchâtel, but also Valais have a tax deal with France that obliges France to transfer 4.5 percent of the gross wages of cross-border commuters to the cantons as taxes for the use of the Swiss infrastructure. Around 200 million Swiss francs flow into the Vaud state treasury every year, and 50 million into that of Neuchâtel.
Other cantons such as Geneva, on the other hand, rely on the withholding tax system. Geneva deducts a withholding tax from the wages of its 90,000 cross-border commuters and transfers part of it to France.
It is unclear whether France will generally demand more taxes for itself from the cantons if the home office limits are relaxed. Geneva apparently expects it. The State Secretariat for International Financial Matters (SIF) is “currently holding talks with France for a solution that takes Swiss interests into account in several ways,” says SIF spokesman Mario Tuor.
Philip Reichen has been the French-speaking Switzerland correspondent based in Lausanne since 2012. He studied history, philosophy and general constitutional law at the universities of Zurich and Freiburg im Breisgau.
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