Employment law
i Basic rule: no special rules for executives
Swiss employment law is primarily governed by the Swiss Code of Obligations. These rules apply to all employees, and, in principle, there are no special rules for executives. The employment law rules also apply to top executives, other than the members of the board whose legal relationship is outside of employment law for lack of a subordination relationship with the company.
While appointment and removal of executives from corporate functions, such as membership in corporate bodies, and related obligations, are governed by corporate law, the employment side of the relationship remains governed by the standard rules of employment law.
Some employment law rules are interpreted differently in case of executives, however. In particular, a higher degree of loyalty is expected of executives. In addition, some protective rules of the labour law do not apply to top executives, who do not benefit from rules on remuneration of extra work, among others.
ii Compensation
There is a principled distinction between two forms of compensation in Swiss law: salary and 'gratification'. The salary component consists of the sums periodically and unconditionally paid in cash by the employer (normally a fixed sum, sometimes a participation in profits, theoretically also a commission).
Modern compensation schemes for executives in Switzerland regularly provide for variable incentive schemes: short-term incentives and long-term...
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