These Swiss companies now require Covid certificates from their employees
As vaccination against the coronavirus is not compulsory in Switzerland, employers have no right to demand that their workforce gets inoculated. And yet a growing number of companies do.
The Covid vaccination is creating somewhat of a legal and ethical conundrum in Switzerland: on one hand, forcing someone to get jabbed against their will is unlawful, but on the other, companies have a legal duty to protect the health and safety of their employees.
In this context, an increasing number of Switzerland’s employers are demanding the Covid certificate from their workers.
Here’s an overview.
Novartis
From October 4th, everyone on the premises of pharmaceutical giant Novartis, must be in possession of a valid Covid certificate. As an alternative, they must undergo a rapid antigen test on site, which is then valid for two days for access to the area.
This means employees without a certificate must be screened on average three times a week, which can become quite expensive as testing will no longer be free from October 11th.
"Our main concern is to ensure the health and safety of our employees and everyone else at our sites," said a Novartis spokesman, explaining the new access rules.
Those who refuse to comply will have to work from home.
Swiss Post
It is the first public company to require the certificate from certain employees.
However, this obligation “is applied selectively and in individual cases only — for example, when employees distribute letters and parcels in a hospital”, according to the Post.
Insurance companies
As of October 11th, the reinsurance group Swiss Re will also be introducing a certificate requirement in all its sites across the country.
"This will allow the employees to return to a situation that comes as close to ‘normal’ as possible”, company spokesperson said, adding that it will no longer be necessary for employees to wear masks — provided that a minimum distance of 1.5 metres can be maintained.
Insurance company Zurich is even stricter than Novartis and Swiss Re.
Since September 13th, the company has required all employees, visitors and suppliers to present a certificate when entering the corporate headquarters in Zurich and, from October 4th, also at its site in Zurich-Oerlikon. The check is carried out daily at the entrance using a smartphone scanner.
"Anyone who does not have a certificate is not allowed in and asked to work from home", the company said.
SWISS airline
The national carrier announced that from November 15th, all cabin crew must be vaccinated.
“It is important that we take measures now that allow us to preserve our global network while fulfilling our duty to protect our employees”, said the company’s CEO Dieter Vranckx.
SWISS is making COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for its entire flying personnel from mid-November onwards, for operational reasons and under its duty of care towards its employees. For more information: https://t.co/1Thu3UTVrZ pic.twitter.com/fQh4UJHLLw
— LX_Newsroom (@LX_Newsroom) August 24, 2021
READ MORE: Swiss airlines makes Covid vaccination compulsory for pilots and cabin crew
Geneva’s University Hospitals (HUG)
Switzerland’s largest university medical centre announced that all healthcare personnel hired from September 1st will have to be vaccinated.
“We have an obligation to protect patients, staff and visitors. The hospital is safe, but we can further increase that security”, HUG director Bertrand Levrat said about the new requirement.
Other large Swiss companies are seriously considering the certificate requirement as well.
Among them are AMAG, ABB, EY, NZZ Group and TX Group, according to SonntagsZeitung.
READ MORE: Can your boss require you to have a Covid certificate in Switzerland?
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The Covid vaccination is creating somewhat of a legal and ethical conundrum in Switzerland: on one hand, forcing someone to get jabbed against their will is unlawful, but on the other, companies have a legal duty to protect the health and safety of their employees.
In this context, an increasing number of Switzerland’s employers are demanding the Covid certificate from their workers.
Here’s an overview.
Novartis
From October 4th, everyone on the premises of pharmaceutical giant Novartis, must be in possession of a valid Covid certificate. As an alternative, they must undergo a rapid antigen test on site, which is then valid for two days for access to the area.
This means employees without a certificate must be screened on average three times a week, which can become quite expensive as testing will no longer be free from October 11th.
"Our main concern is to ensure the health and safety of our employees and everyone else at our sites," said a Novartis spokesman, explaining the new access rules.
Those who refuse to comply will have to work from home.
Swiss Post
It is the first public company to require the certificate from certain employees.
However, this obligation “is applied selectively and in individual cases only — for example, when employees distribute letters and parcels in a hospital”, according to the Post.
Insurance companies
As of October 11th, the reinsurance group Swiss Re will also be introducing a certificate requirement in all its sites across the country.
"This will allow the employees to return to a situation that comes as close to ‘normal’ as possible”, company spokesperson said, adding that it will no longer be necessary for employees to wear masks — provided that a minimum distance of 1.5 metres can be maintained.
Insurance company Zurich is even stricter than Novartis and Swiss Re.
Since September 13th, the company has required all employees, visitors and suppliers to present a certificate when entering the corporate headquarters in Zurich and, from October 4th, also at its site in Zurich-Oerlikon. The check is carried out daily at the entrance using a smartphone scanner.
"Anyone who does not have a certificate is not allowed in and asked to work from home", the company said.
SWISS airline
The national carrier announced that from November 15th, all cabin crew must be vaccinated.
“It is important that we take measures now that allow us to preserve our global network while fulfilling our duty to protect our employees”, said the company’s CEO Dieter Vranckx.
SWISS is making COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for its entire flying personnel from mid-November onwards, for operational reasons and under its duty of care towards its employees. For more information: https://t.co/1Thu3UTVrZ pic.twitter.com/fQh4UJHLLw
— LX_Newsroom (@LX_Newsroom) August 24, 2021
READ MORE: Swiss airlines makes Covid vaccination compulsory for pilots and cabin crew
Geneva’s University Hospitals (HUG)
Switzerland’s largest university medical centre announced that all healthcare personnel hired from September 1st will have to be vaccinated.
“We have an obligation to protect patients, staff and visitors. The hospital is safe, but we can further increase that security”, HUG director Bertrand Levrat said about the new requirement.
Other large Swiss companies are seriously considering the certificate requirement as well.
Among them are AMAG, ABB, EY, NZZ Group and TX Group, according to SonntagsZeitung.
READ MORE: Can your boss require you to have a Covid certificate in Switzerland?
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