Social security law

Case 1: Multilateral agreement on teleworking

1. facts of the case

Anna is a German citizen residing in Constance (Germany).

She has been working as an employee of a limited liability company based in Zurich (Switzerland) since January 2018 and receives an annual salary of CHF 90,000 from this activity.

Since July 2023, she has regularly worked from home two days a week in Germany (40%) and three days on site in Switzerland (60%).

Since the start of employment, salary contributions have been settled with the SVA Zurich.

As part of an audit in April 2025, the GmbH is advised to clarify the employee's social security status from July 1, 2023.

Variant: Anna receives a call from Spain that her mother, who lives in Spain, is seriously ill. Anna therefore intends to telework from Spain for the GmbH in Switzerland for the next 12 months.

Questions

• What social security regulations must be observed for people who work from home in their EU/EFTA country of residence?
• What administrative measures must employers take to correctly handle the social security situation for cross-border teleworking?

• What specific benefits and challenges does the new multilateral framework agreement on cross-border teleworking bring for companies and employees?

• Is there a regulation that makes it possible to telework outside your country of residence in the EU/EFTA without losing your insurance cover in Switzerland?
• What administrative steps are required to be able to telework 100% in the context of a posting to an EU/EFTA country?

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Case 2: Board of Directors domiciled outside Switzerland

1. facts of the case

Mr. Moser is a German citizen and lives in Munich. He works there as an independent management consultant.

In spring 2025, Mr. Moser will be appointed to the Board of Directors of SwissTech AG, based in Zurich.

He does not receive a BoD fee (i.e. no remuneration for his work on the Board of Directors).

He carries out his activities as a member of the Board of Directors mainly from Germany - in particular in the form of e-mail correspondence, strategic evaluations and occasional video calls. Once a year, he travels to Zurich for the Board of Directors meeting.

In 2026, Hans Moser intends to relocate to Dubai (UAE). His BoD fee is to be paid to an AG in Dubai, where he will also be a member of the BoD.

Variant: Hans Moser is employed by a German group in Munich. He represents the German group on the board of the Swiss subsidiary. The board fee of the Swiss subsidiary is transferred to the German group.

Questions

• Which social security law applies if organs of a legal entity in Switzerland live and work in an EU/EFTA state?

• What social security regulations apply if you are also gainfully employed in your country of residence (EU/EFTA)?
• What administrative procedures are necessary to determine the responsible social insurance?
• What are the social security consequences of a change of residence to a third country without a social security agreement with Switzerland?
• Does the remuneration of the board of directors of a Swiss stock corporation, which is paid to the EU employer of the board of directors, constitute a relevant salary?

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Case 3: Foreign employer with employee in Switzerland

1. facts of the case

Tech GmbH, based in Berlin, would like to hire Tom (Swiss citizen and ETH graduate), who lives in Switzerland, as a software developer with a 100% workload. Tom will perform the majority of his work for Tech GmbH from a co-working space in Zurich (80%) and only occasionally work at his employer's headquarters in Berlin (20%).

Questions

• Which social security law is Tom subject to?
• How is the obligation to pay contributions structured? What options are available?

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Case 4: Employee shareholdings in international relations

1. facts of the case

Emma, a British citizen, has held the position of Chief Operation Officer at the listed company MedTec AG in Zurich since April 1, 2023. During the period from January 1, 2021 to March 31, 2023, Emma was employed by the US subsidiary in Boston. She moved her place of residence from the USA to Switzerland as of
April 1, 2023 and her salary contributions will be settled with the SVA Zurich from this date.

Emma has received the following options under the MedTec Group's Long Term Incentive Plan in recent years:

On 1 May 2025, Emma exercises all options from 2021 and 2022 and the vested 1,000 options from 2023 at a share price of CHF 50 and realizes the following gross gains:

Options 2021: 600 x (CHF 50 - CHF 15) = CHF 21,000

Options 2022: 750 x (CHF 50 - CHF 20) = CHF 22,500

Options 2023: 1,000 x (CHF 50 - CHF 25) = CHF 25,000

Variant: the shares acquired when exercising the option are subject to a lock-up period of 2 years.

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Case 5: Bonus payment after moving abroad

1. facts of the case

Brian, a Costa Rican national, lived and worked in Switzerland from October 2019 to March 2023 for the Swiss subsidiary (CH AG) of a US group. At the beginning of April 2023, he moved to the USA and worked there for the American sister company (US Inc). In January 2024, US Inc paid him a bonus of USD 240,000 for the 2023 financial year.

As Brian left Switzerland permanently at the end of March 2023, the AHV contributions he paid for the years 2019 - 2023 were partially reimbursed at his request. 

During an employer audit, the auditor discovered that withholding tax had been deducted from the pro rata bonus payment for 2024, but no social security contributions had been paid. The compensation office issued a ruling demanding that CH AG pay the social insurance contributions, including default interest, on the corresponding payroll amount. CH AG lodged an objection, arguing that the bonus payment had been made by the US subsidiary and that Brian was no longer subject to Swiss social security contributions at that time.

Questions

• How should the arguments of CH AG be assessed?
• Does it matter whether Brian was entitled to reclaim the AHV contributions paid?