Whistleblowing
Whistleblowing
"Hello, I'm wondering how to go about reporting a boss who doesn't pay the social security contributions of his employees who work at 100% but are only registered at 50%? " C., Geneva
Whistleblowing is a mechanism that allows any citizen to bring to the attention of the authorities a situation that he or she considers inappropriate. One of the conditions for reporting to be effective is that the state authority must be able to intervene ex officio, otherwise it will not deal with the case that is brought to its attention.
The applicable legal bases may be found in federal law or in the various cantonal laws. Certain areas of law, such as the one you mention, the Road Traffic Act (LCR) and the Aliens Act (LEtr), are governed exclusively by federal law. The situation you have described is covered by the Federal Law on Labour in Industry, Craft Trades and Commerce (LTr), article 54 of which provides for the possibility of lodging complaints. Under this provision, the competent authority is obliged to examine such reports and to open proceedings if they are well-founded.
As for the authority to be contacted, this usually depends on where the incident took place. In Geneva, the case you describe would fall within the remit of the Office cantonal de l'inspection et des relations du travail (OCIRT - Cantonal Office for Inspection and Industrial Relations). Under Geneva law, it is the law on administrative procedure (LPA) that governs decision-making by the authorities. Article 10A of the LPA states that any person may bring to the attention of the authorities facts likely to result in the opening of an administrative procedure, with the proviso that the authorities will not take any action on anonymous reports. It should also be noted that the person making the report, if he or she is not personally affected by the facts he or she is reporting, has no right to be a party to the procedure that may be opened by the authorities. In principle, they can neither take part in the proceedings nor demand anything from the authorities, not even a decision on the action to be taken on their complaint. If you are one of the aggrieved employees, you should therefore assert your rights by lodging a complaint or taking legal action.
