40% of workers in Switzerland feel exhausted

Unions in Switzerland have proposed introducing more effective rules on overtime, more holidays and less work-day flexibility. Keystone / Martin Ruetschi

Legislative measures are needed to combat stress and the increasing cases of exhaustion in the workplace, according to unions in Switzerland.

Trade union associations in Switzerland have called for legislative measures to combat stress and exhaustion in the workplace. Travail.Suisse and other affiliated unions have proposed introducing more effective rules on overtime, more holidays and less flexible working hours.

The call for action comes as a survey by Travail.Suisse shows that almost 40% of workers in Switzerland feel exhausted and burnout is on the rise. The increasing number of excessively long and fragmented working days is putting the health and social lives of staff at risk, according to Migmar Dhakyel, secretary of the Syna trade union. In a written speech, Dhakyel says, “even for part-time workers, 12 or 13-hour working days are becoming common”.

President of Travail.Suisse, Adrian Wüthrich, stressed that protecting workers’ health is non-negotiable and that less flexibility, not more, is needed to protect their health and private lives.

Various studies show that the highest level of stress is noted among those working in the hotel and restaurant industry.

For office workers, clearer rules are needed to ensure they have the right to rest and to not be contacted during their time off, said Olivia Stuber of the Transfair union. With digitisation forcing employees to constantly adapt, the unions concluded that more holidays and reduced working hours are sensible compensatory measures to protect employees’ health in an increasingly hectic working world.