Tag Archives: Business & Economy

In 2016, Switzerland’s government decided to tighten the VAT exemption on imported purchases, a move that affects most online orders from foreign retailers. The new rules took effect on 1 January 2019 – they were originally planned for 1 January 2018 but systems and processes were not ready. © Ifeelstock | Dreamstime.com Until the beginning of this year, any order attracting less than CHF 5 francs of VAT was allowed across the border tax free. This meant CHF 64.931 of most goods and CHF 2002...

Since the beginning of December 2018 more and more counterfeit 100 Swiss franc notes have been appearing in the Swiss canton of Valais in and around Sion and Conthey. ©-Ginasanders-_-Dreamstime.com_ - Click to enlarge The fake notes, which the local Police say can be spotted if compared to real ones, have been making their way into circulation via shopping centres, kiosks and service stations in the Sion and Conthey...

Since the beginning of December 2018 more and more counterfeit 100 Swiss franc notes have been appearing in the Swiss canton of Valais in and around Sion and Conthey. © Ginasanders | Dreamstime.com The fake notes, which the local Police say can be spotted if compared to real ones, have been making their way into circulation via shopping centres, kiosks and service stations in the Sion and Conthey region. Counterfeiting is rare in Switzerland because Swiss notes are virtually impossible to...

Growing old is something that happens to nearly all of us. However, according to a recent study close to one in three people (28%) reported age-related discrimination in Switzerland in 2017. © Photovs | Dreamstime.com The rate of age discrimination (28%) is higher than sexism (22%) and racism (12%), according to Christian Maggiori, a professor focused on social work interviewed by the newspaper La Liberté. Maggiori thinks the high incidence of agism could be partly explained by a lack laws...

Today, The Federal Council, Switzerland’s executive, announced it has approved a deal safeguarding the rights of Swiss and UK citizens after Brexit. © Melinda Nagy | Dreamstime.com The agreement is part of a package of deals being worked out as part of a plan dubbed “Mind the Gap”. Under the agreement, any UK citizen residing in Switzerland before Brexit will retain all of their existing rights for life. The same will apply to Swiss citizens living in the UK. When the UK leaves the EU, the...

Heidi Joos, the managing director of the organisation Avenir 50 plus, and others, plan to launch a referendum aimed at introducing laws against age discrimination in Switzerland. © Vadimgozhda | Dreamstime.com Age discrimination in recruitment is common in Switzerland. Some job search websites allow filtering by age, and job adverts sometimes specify applicants be below a particular age. The initiative aims to provide a framework for seeking legal justice in cases of age discrimination, to...

Even when labelled properly food labels provide precious little information on what a product might contain. © Tero Vesalainen | Dreamstime.com For example, a piece of farmed salmon will typically be labelled only with its country of origin, containing no information on what the fish has been fed. Contaminated fish feed can significantly push up the level of dioxins found in the fish’s fat. Mad cows disease is another example of how animal feed contaminated food. Recently, the Fédération...

On 1 December 2018, Switzerland’s flag carrier started offering cheese fondue on flights out of Geneva. © Margouillat | Dreamstime.com The dish is a new addition to the airline’s Swiss Saveurs menu, which was launched six months earlier. The pre-heated, specially packaged fondue, which is 50% Vacherin Fribourg and 50% Gruyère cheese, is available on Swiss flights from Geneva to Malaga, Athens, Stockholm, Moscow, Gothenburg, Hurghada, Lisbon, St Petersburg and Marrakesh. The 200 gram portion...

The latest figures show that Swiss salaries have not kept up with inflation. An average Swiss salary rose 0.4% in 2017, compared to inflation of 0.5%. This left the average salary earner 0.1% worse off in real terms over the year. © Convisum | Dreamstime.com The figures were the same for both the secondary and tertiary sectors. The rise in 2017 (+0.4%) was the same as 2016 (+0.4%) but less than 2015 (+0.5%) and 2014 (+0.9%). Average annual salary increases in Switzerland have been below 1%...

Third quarter Swiss GDP figures released yesterday show Switzerland’s economy shrank compared to the quarter before. © Tobias Arhelger | Dreamstime.com GDP for the quarter to September was down by 0.2% compared to the quarter before, ending an 18-month run of quarterly growth. The fall in Swiss GDP follows a quarterly slowdown across the rest of Europe, in Germany in particular. A fall in the output of Germany’s automotive sector has had a knock on effect in Switzerland. Swiss manufacturing...