Work Hours

Weekly Work Hours

We work 40 hours per week, or the percentage thereof agreed for part-time contracts.

Regular working schedule

VSHN offers flexible work arrangements that don’t lock employees into set workdays when working on a percentage. They agree on their schedules with their teams. To ensure transparency, open communication and collaboration, we have a wiki page where regular Work Schedules are noted. The entries are not rigid and should be updated for long-term changes. We trust and respect all VSHNeers (our employees), fostering a supportive work culture. Keeping calendars updated for short-term changes is also essential.

Office Hours

The following work hours apply for specific duties, Monday to Friday:

If you are not assigned to one of these roles you don’t have to work during a specific time.

Usually, we have lunch between 12:00 to 13:00, but it’s up to you when you want to take your lunch break.

See Support Availability for what office hours are communicated to our customers.

Outside Office Hours

Work outside office hours is compensated with a 1.5x time credit. This applies only for work upon request by VSHN or a customer.

We define outside office hours as follows:

  • Between 20:00 and 08:00 local time

  • All weekends

  • All full-day public holidays (see below)

Public Holidays

Our calculation of public holidays follows the local rules and customs. In countries with a lower number of holidays compared to Switzerland, we grant additional ones as perks.

Holiday Date Switzerland Canada

New Year’s Day

January 1st

statutory

statutory

Berchtoldstag

January 2nd

perk

n/a

Family Day

n/a

statutory

Good Friday / Karfreitag

statutory

statutory

Easter Monday

statutory

n/a

Sechseläuten

perk, half day (does not count as outside office work)

n/a

International Workers' Day

statutory

n/a

Ascension of Jesus / Auffahrt

statutory

n/a

Victoria Day

n/a

statutory

Penecost Monday / Pfingsten

statutory

n/a

Canada Day

July 1st

n/a

statutory

Swiss National Day

August 1st

statutory

n/a

B.C. Day

n/a

statutory

Labour Day

n/a

statutory

Knabenschiessen

perk, half day (does not count as outside office work)

n/a

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

n/a

statutory

Thanksgiving

n/a

statutory

Remembrance Day

November 1st

n/a

statutory

Christmas

December 25th

statutory

statutory

Saint Stephen’s Day / Boxing Day / Stephanstag

December 26th

statutory

n/a

  • These holidays affect the office opening times in their respective country.

  • Employees have the holidays deducted from their annual work time depending on the entity they signed the work contract with. For example, Swiss VSHNeers working temporarily in Canada have their yearly work hours not adjusted for Canadian holidays.

Contractors abroad & EOR

The goal is for all VSHNeers, directly employed, contractors and EOR employees to have the same total annual working hours. In countries with a lower amount of holidays compared to Switzerland, we add the difference as perks. In countries with more statutory holidays, we ensure that the employee has these days off and the days will be subtracted from their annual working hours.