Clocking Out

A court in Switzerland ruled that a dial manufacturer in the famed Swiss watchmaking industry was justified in requiring workers to punch out for bathroom breaks, pitting the rich Alpine country’s labor standards against its reputation for “running like clockwork,” wrote to the Associated Press.

An investigative report by the Swiss news outlet RTS this month reported that a regional court in Neuchâtel in western Switzerland found that watch company Jean Singer & Cie SA had not violated any rights by making their employees clock out to use the toilet.

The requirement became apparent to labor inspectors during an on-site visit to the company during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021. The inspectors ordered the company to end the practice, alleging that Singer violated a federal labor law that protects workers’ personal needs.

The labor inspectors claimed the policy could cause employees to “hold it in or not hydrate, which could lead to serious physiological disorders.”

The case was decided in June but made public last month. In the ruling, Singer insisted that the employees had the freedom to choose what to do on their breaks without having to notify their superiors and that the lengths of the clock-outs were “left to the discretion of each employee.”

The court ruled in favor of Singer, writing that “Swiss law does not mention the right of employees to go to the toilet, even though this is a basic physiological need.”

This “loophole” in Swiss labor law is not only being used by Singer but by other companies in the watchmaking industry: Two companies in Switzerland under the Swatch Group also required employees to clock out for bathroom breaks.

The parent firm said that it was unaware of this situation and ordered its immediate end of the practice.