Free movement, with conditions
As an EU company, a French firm may provide services in Switzerland for up to 90 working days per calendar year with its own staff, under the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons. The condition is the notification procedure: an online declaration to the cantonal authority at least eight days before the work starts, naming the workers, the site and the dates.
Sectors notified from the first day
Construction, civil engineering and finishing trades, hospitality, industrial and domestic cleaning, security, itinerant trade and landscaping must be notified before any work, without a threshold. Several of these sectors have collective agreements declared generally binding, which fix minimum wages, working hours and sometimes a deposit with a joint commission.
Swiss conditions apply on Swiss soil
Posted workers keep their French employer and, with an A1 certificate, their French social insurance. But the Swiss minimum wage of the sector, working hours, expenses and accommodation rules apply for the duration of the posting. Inspections are frequent in Geneva and Vaud; sanctions include fines and bans on posting.
VAT and beyond 90 days
Work performed on Swiss soil is a Swiss supply. Above CHF 100,000 of worldwide turnover, the French company registers for Swiss VAT through a fiscal representative. When contracts recur or exceed 90 days, a Swiss branch or subsidiary and Swiss employment contracts often become the simpler solution.
- Notification: 8 days ahead, 90 days per year
- Sector wages and conditions: mandatory
- VAT: CHF 100,000 worldwide threshold, fiscal representative
- Beyond 90 days: consider a Swiss entity
Authorities decide; we prepare and carry the file. No timeline or outcome is guaranteed.