Recruitment and starting work during emergency operations
While the main issue concerning new staff from Switzerland is whether it is possible for them to complete the introduction process while working remotely from home, the hiring of staff from abroad is being hindered by legal obstacles to the recruitment process, namely restrictions on admission to the country imposed by the federal government.
Because of the coronavirus crisis, the Swiss government will no longer issue visas until 15 June 2020 and the Migration Office of the Canton of Zurich will not accept any applications for residence permits until that date. However, employment contracts are only legally binding if a valid work and residence permit is available. This means ETH Zurich is currently unable to issue a valid employment contract for persons from EU/EFTA countries, or from other countries. To address this problem, the Vice President for Infrastructure and interim Vice President for Personnel Development and Leadership, Ulrich Weidmann, has passed new regulations covering recruitment during the current emergency operations.
Persons from Switzerland
Persons from Switzerland or with residence and a residence permit in Switzerland can take up their position without additional authorisation, provided they can complete the introduction process while working remotely from home. However, new employment contracts should preferably be issued with a date of entry from 1 July onwards.
Persons from EU/EFTA countries
Persons from these countries who are not resident in Switzerland cannot currently conclude a legally binding employment contract due to the lack of a work and residence permit. For this reason, the start of employment must be postponed for existing contracts or commitments. It is expected that entry into Switzerland will be possible from 15 June and that the earliest date for starting a job will be 1 July.
Persons from all other countries
Entry from all other countries will probably be possible at the earliest by the end of August or the start of September. In view of this, employment contracts can only be issued with employment commencing on or after 1 October 2020. In the case of existing employment contracts or commitments, the employee must not start working until this date.
Social security and tax rules unfortunately make it problematic to work remotely from home outside Switzerland. Exceptions to this rule are therefore only possible in justified cases and with the permission of the Head of HR. There is no change to the current practice of extending employment contracts.
Additional information
All information about the measures taken by ETH Zurich during the coronavirus pandemic can be found on the coronavirus website.