My work certificate is incomplete

My work certificate is incomplete

"I was made redundant recently and my employer gave me a work certificate that didn't say anything about what I'd done for the company. Can I ask him for a more complete one?"

Sandrine, Geneva

Issuing an employment certificate is one of the employer's obligations under article 330a of the Swiss Code of Obligations (CO). Employees may request an employment certificate covering the nature and duration of the employment relationship, as well as the quality of their work.

This is a right, and the employee may make a request to the employer at any time, either during or at the end of the employment relationship. When such a request is made during the contractual relationship, the employee will have to justify an interest, such as the search for a new job. According to case law, the employment certificate must be truthful, clear, complete and written in a benevolent spirit. Thus, in principle, the work certificate must contain several elements, including the nature of the work, i.e. a detailed description of the activity carried out and the functions performed in the company, the duration of the employment relationship, with precise indication of the start and end dates, an assessment of the quality of the work performed and an evaluation of the employee's conduct within the company. In addition, case law considers that the work certificate must not contain any negative assessment of the employee unless it is relevant. However, the detailed certificate must reflect reality. An employer who draws up a certificate that does not reflect reality is liable to future employers. On the other hand, if the employee expressly requests it, the certificate will only relate to the nature and duration of the employment relationship (art. 330a para. 2 CO). The employer may therefore only issue a simple employment certificate at the express request of the employee!

Therefore, if your employer refuses to issue you with a complete work certificate, you can go to the Labour Court and ask for the certificate to be rectified, by submitting another version yourself. Finally, it should be noted that an employee's right to his or her work certificate is time-barred 10 years after the end of the employment relationship.