Employment law – New job registration requirement from 2025

1. New job registration requirement

1.1. What is the new job registration requirement?

The new job registration requirement was introduced in 2018 in the context of the “against mass immigration” initiative which was accepted in a popular vote on February 9, 2014 and resulted in Article 121a of the Federal Constitution.

The new job registration requirement covers all kinds of occupations where the national unemployment rate is at least 5% (since January 1, 2020). This requirement is designed to make better use of local labour and limit the need for immigration.

With a few exceptions, all vacant positions in the relevant fields must be registered with the relevant Regional Employment Office (“ORP”), irrespective of the working rate of employment, the duration of employment, and the nationality and place of residence of the employee. This means that, although it is intended to limit immigration, the new job registration requirement is applicable to all vacant positions in the occupations covered, whether the roles are intended for domestic or foreign workers.

When it was introduced in 2018, the new job registration requirement covered 19 occupations, particularly in the hotel and catering, construction and industrial sectors. Today it covers 23 occupations and the list is updated every year by the authorities (DEFR).

1.2. Which occupations are now included?

6.5% of the workforce are currently employed in one of the occupations subject to the new job registration requirement. So nearly 80,000 people will be affected by this obligation.

From January 1, 2025, the following occupations are included in the new job registration requirement:

- Managers and executives in sales and marketing

- Biologists, botanists, zoologists and similar

- Technical sales specialists (information and communications technology excepted), medical sector

- Sociologists, anthropologists and related professions

- Catering service managers

- Catering assistants

- Molders, polishers and grinders

- Watchmaking operators

- Laundry machine operators

The full list of occupations affected is available here in French or German.

You can also consult the Check-up 2025 (available here in French or in German) to find out whether an occupation is included.

1.3. Who is responsible for the new job registration?

The new job registration requirement lies with employers or third parties who look after the recruitment process – for example, employment agencies.

1.4. How to register a new job?

Vacant positions that fall under the new job registration requirement must be communicated to the competent ORP via the travail.swiss portal, posted on the travail.swiss website (“Job-room”) or registered by email, telephone or in person.

The registration must contain the following information:

- Profession sought

- Description of the activity and its requirements

- Location of the job

- Rate of employment

- Starting date

- Type of employment relationship (fixed-term or open-ended)

- Address

- Company name

Vacant positions to be registered with the ORP are subject to a five working day ban on publication, starting on the first working day following publication of the vacancy. This ban on publication cannot be lifted.

Within three working days of publishing the vacancy on the online portal for jobseekers registered with an ORP, the ORP will send the employer any data relating to applicants whose files are relevant, or will let them know that it does not have any such data.

After examining the files forwarded by the ORP, the employer must inform the ORP of i) the candidates shortlisted and invited to a job interview or aptitude test, ii) the hiring of any of the candidates proposed, or iii) whether the position remains vacant. However, if the employer decides that the proposed applicants are unsuitable, it does not need to justify this decision.

At the end of the five day period, if the occupation has not been filled, the employer can publish a call for applications and, if necessary, launch a normal recruitment process.

Bear in mind that the new job registration requirement neither replace the obligation to register an open position with the cantonal labor market authority nor the thorough search for candidates in Switzerland and in EU/EFTA countries that employers must carry out before they can apply for a work permit for a non-EU/EFTA national.

1.5. What’s not included?

The new job registration requirement does not apply to:

- Jobs filled by jobseekers registered with an ORP

- Jobs within a company, group of companies or economic group which are filled by people who have already been employed by the said company, group of companies or economic group for at least six months without interruption

- Jobs that last less than 14 calendar days

- Apprenticeships and internships that form an integral part of a training program

- Employment of the spouse or registered partner of the person authorised to sign on behalf of the company, or their parents or relatives in the direct line or up to the first degree in the collateral line.

1.6. What if you don’t comply?

Compliance is monitored by the cantons, i.e. the Cantonal Employment Office in the canton of Geneva (“OCE”) or the General Direction of Employment and Labour Market (“DGEM”) in the canton of Vaud.

Penalties for non-compliance may be imposed at federal or cantonal level.

• At federal level, a criminal fine of up to CHF 40,000.00 may be imposed (CHF 20,000.00 if the offender acted negligently).
• At cantonal level, for example in Geneva, a foreign worker's application for a work permit following an employer's breach of the job registration requirement will be rejected. In addition, the OCE may impose a criminal fine of up to CHF 5,000.00.

However, this is not the case in all cantons. In Lausanne, for example, employers who violate the job registration requirement will receive a warning from the DGEM. In the event of a repeat offence, the employer will be reported to the district prefect of the place where the offence was committed, who will impose the criminal fine stipulated under federal law.

Please do not hesitate to contact us in case of any questions.

Legal Note: The information contained in this Smart Insight newsletter is of general nature and does not constitute legal advice.