Job registration requirement

• In February 2014 the initiative “Against mass immigration“ was adopted by Swiss voters. Parliament subsequently decided to introduce a job registration requirement for occupations with a high level of unemployment. This is intended to better utilise the potential of the domestic workforce. 
• Since 1 January 2020, employers have been legally required to register vacancies in occupations where the national unemployment rate is at least 5% with the regional employment centre (RAV).
• The job vacancy has to be posted in the protected area of the unemployment insurance (ALV) ‘Job Room’ online job portal for five working days before it can be advertised elsewhere (blocking period).
• In this way, jobseekers registered with the RAV are informed first about vacancies in occupations with a high level of unemployment. This will give them a five-day head start over other candidates in which to apply. It will also allow the RAV to send employers a list of suitable candidates.
• Legal basis:
  • Federal Constitution: Art. 121a Management of immigration
  • Foreign Nationals and Integration Act: Art. 21a and 117a FNIA Measures for jobseekers
  • Recruitment Ordinance: Art. 53a ff., 58a and 63

• The job registration requirement is designed to ensure that jobseekers registered with the RAV are informed first about vacancies in occupations with a high level of unemployment. This gives them a five-day head start over other candidates in which to apply. It will also allow the RAV to send employers a list of suitable candidates.
• This is intended to better utilise the potential of the domestic workforce.

• The job registration requirement came into effect on 1 July 2018. Since this date, employers have been legally required to register with the RAV vacancies in occupations where the national average unemployment rate meets or exceeds a certain threshold. Since 1 January 2020, this threshold has been an employment rate of 5%.

• Jobs that are subject to the registration requirement should be registered with the competent RAV.
• Jobs can be registered quickly and simply  via the work.swiss portal. They can also be registered by phone or in person. Please see the work.swiss portal for a list of the areas of responsibility of the individual RAVs and their contact details.
• The API is an electronic interface to the Job Room at work.swiss, which is a channel for businesses to publish jobs subject to the registration requirement. Setting up the interface takes a certain amount of technical effort and is therefore more suited to large firms. The relevant technical documentation can be found online at Job Room Jobs API Documentation. If you have any technical questions regarding the API please contact jobroom-api@seco.admin.ch.

• In general, jobs must be registered by the employer who is looking to fill the vacancy. However, if the employer delegates the task of filling the vacancy to an employment agency, headhunter or another intermediary, this intermediary must then register the vacancy. They must provide the regional employment centre (RAV) all of the information required under Art. 53b of the Recruitment Ordinance (RecO). All of the employer’s other obligations must also be fulfilled.

• Since 1 January 2020, employers have been legally required to register with the RAV vacancies in occupations where the national unemployment rate is at least 5%.
• The definitive list of occupations (PDF, 151 kB, 29.11.2023) (in German) that have to be registered is published every autumn on the work.swiss portal and is valid for the subsequent calendar year (1 January – 31 December). You can also find out whether vacancies in particular occupations have to be registered using the form on the work.swiss portal (Check-Up).
• If in doubt, the competent RAV can provide information and can help classify jobs in the right occupational categories.

• There is no registration requirement for:
  • jobs filled by jobseekers registered with the public employment service (RAV);
  • jobs within a company, an association of companies or a group that have been filled by internal staff employed there for at least six consecutive months;
  • employment lasting a maximum of 14 days;
  • employment of persons connected with an authorised signatory in the company through marriage or registered partnership, or through blood or through marriage in a straight line up to the first degree of collateral line.
• If in doubt, the competent RAV can provide information and advice.

• Apprenticeships and internships that constitute a compulsory part of a course or training programme are exempt from the registration requirement.
• Internships that do not constitute a compulsory part of a course or training programme do have to be registered provided they are in an occupation that is subject to the registration requirement.

• The central point of contact for employers is the competent RAV.
• The areas of responsibility of the individual RAVs and their contact details can be found on the work.swiss portal.
• Jobs can be registered quickly and simply online via the work.swiss portal. They can also be registered by phone or in person.
• Employers are free to conduct their recruitment processes in the normal way, even in cases where the vacancies are subject to the registration requirement.

• Jobs have to be published on an online job portal that can only be accessed by jobseekers registered with the RAV for five working days before they can be advertised elsewhere (publication ban).
• This publication ban for jobs that are subject to the registration requirement cannot be shortened or circumvented.
• However, companies and private employment agencies can register on the work.swiss portal to access the employers’ portal to search for or contact suitable candidates directly. If vacancies are filled by candidates who are registered as jobseekers with an RAV, they do not need to be registered.

• The deciding factor for whether a job has to be registered is the unemployment rate for the occupation in question (5-digit code Swiss Standard Classification of Occupations CH-ISCO-19). This takes account of the different fields of work within an occupational category.
• In order to level out seasonal fluctuations, the average unemployment rate over the previous 12 months is calculated for the individual occupations.
• For practical reasons, the applicable unemployment rate for individual occupations is calculated for the whole of Switzerland.

• Jobs have to be published on an online job portal that can only be accessed by jobseekers registered with the RAV for five working days before they can be advertised elsewhere (publication ban).
• This five-day publication ban starts on the working day after the vacancy is published on the online job portal that can only be accessed by jobseekers registered with the RAV.
  

        Example:

• Date of publication:
  Tuesday, 31 July 2018

• Expiry of the 5-day embargo:
  Wednesday, 8 August 2018 (1 August is a national holiday and 4-5 August fall on the weekend. These days do not count as part of the 5-day period.)

• External advertisement possible on:
  Thursday, 9 August 2018

• The job registration should contain the following information:
  • Occupation sought
  • Activity, including special requirements (technical requirements, methodological skills required, social skills required, etc.)
  • Place of work
  • Level of employment
  • Start date
  • Type of contract: fixed-term or permanent
  • Contact address
  • Name of company
• The more precise the job information provided is, the more efficient and effective the RAV will be in putting forward a list of suitable candidates. For this reason, when working with the RAV, employers are advised to enclose a requirements profile (job description) that is as detailed as possible.

• RAV recruitment recommendations
  Within three working days of registering the job on the protected job portal for jobseekers registered with the RAV, the employer will either receive a list of suitable candidates from the RAV or notification that no suitable candidates are available. This notification does not shorten the publication ban.
• Employer feedback
  The employer reviews the list sent over by the RAV and informs it:
  • which candidates it deems suitable and has invited to a job interview or an aptitude test;
  • whether a candidate has been employed;
  • if the job is still vacant.
• Making the job vacancy public
  Jobs that have to be registered may not be advertised anywhere else for five working days. This five-day publication ban starts on the working day after the vacancy is published on the online job portal that can only be accessed by jobseekers registered with the RAV. The publication ban cannot be shortened or circumvented.

• Within three days of publication of the job vacancy on the online job portal that can only be accessed by jobseekers registered with the RAV, the competent RAV contacts the reporting employer to put forward a list of jobseekers with a matching profile, or to notify them that none are available. This notification does not shorten the publication ban. The  exact number of profiles employers wish to receive should be specified in collaboration with the RAV.

• The registration requirement ensures that persons registered as jobseekers with an RAV are informed first about vacancies in occupations with high unemployment. This gives them a head start of five working days over other jobseekers, during which they can apply for the job.
• In principle anyone entitled to sojourn and to work in Switzerland can register as a jobseeker with a regional employment centre RAV.
  

• The cantons are responsible for checking compliance with the job registration requirement. If the cantonal implementing agencies note that a job that was subject to the registration requirement was not registered with the RAV, they must file a criminal charge.
• Violations of the registration requirement should be reported to the criminal prosecution authorities in accordance with Art. 117a FNIA and may be punishable by a monetary penalty of up to CHF 40,000. If the violation occurred due to negligence, the maximum penalty is CHF 20,000.

• If the RAV puts forward application files/candidates, the employer has to inform the RAV:
  • which candidates it deems suitable and has duly invited to a job interview or an aptitude test;
  • whether a candidate has been employed;
  • if the job is still vacant.
• Within the context of the job registration requirement, employers are not obliged to explain why a jobseeker was deemed unsuitable for the position. However, this is different from the obligation to provide information with respect to insured persons in accordance with the Unemployment Insurance Act (UIA).

• Jobs have to be registered on the online job portal that can only be accessed by jobseekers registered with the RAV for five working days before they can be advertised elsewhere (publication ban).
• Only after this publication ban has expired can existing candidates be employed. Existing candidates should not be registered as jobseekers with the RAV and may be people who previously sent a speculative application or replied to a standard job advert (“We are always on the lookout for qualified experts”).

• Jobs that are registered online can be removed via the same channel.
• Alternatively, you can contact the competent RAV directly and request that the vacancy is removed from the portal.
• Companies also have the option of registering on the work.swiss portal. They can then administer advertised jobs, search for candidates and contact jobseekers directly via a contact form. Jobs that have been registered can also be removed in this way.

The following documents contain information on the requirement to post job vacancies:

Texts of various lengths (in German) (PDF, 115 kB, 28.11.2019)
PowerPoint presentation (in German, video in English) (PDF, 996 kB, 19.12.2019)
Printable A3 poster (in German) (PDF, 2 MB, 28.11.2019)

Banners (in German):

• Banner Bild 160 x 600 (JPG, 66 kB, 19.06.2018)
• Banner Bild 180 x 150 (JPG, 25 kB, 19.06.2018)
• Banner Bild 240 x 400 (JPG, 31 kB, 19.06.2018)
• Banner Bild 300 x 250 (JPG, 54 kB, 19.06.2018)
• Banner animiert 160 x 600 (GIF, 86 kB, 19.06.2018)
• Banner animiert 180 x 150 (GIF, 32 kB, 19.06.2018)
• Banner animiert 240 x 400 (GIF, 87 kB, 19.06.2018)
• Banner animiert 300 x 250 (GIF, 72 kB, 19.06.2018)

Advertisement (in German):

• Inserat 105 x 90 (Zeitung) (PDF, 735 kB, 25.06.2018)
• Inserat 105 x 90 (gestrichenes Papier) (PDF, 1 MB, 25.06.2018)