How do I take legal action against my employer?

How do I take legal action against my employer?

"I am currently employed by a company based in Geneva. However, I am domiciled in the canton of Vaud. Can I take legal action against my employer in the canton of Vaud?

Nicolas

A court may only hear a dispute if it has jurisdiction under the applicable domestic or international rules. When, as in your case, the dispute is of a purely domestic nature, the territorial jurisdiction of the court (forum) is governed by the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC).

Article 10 of the Swiss Code of Civil Procedure sets out the ordinary place of jurisdiction for legal proceedings as follows: a natural person may only be sued before the court of his domicile, and a legal entity may only be sued before the court of its registered office, unless otherwise provided.

The ordinary forum thus applies only in the absence of a special forum provided by law or agreed by the parties. For certain actions, the CPC provides for one or more special fora and assigns jurisdiction to courts other than those of the defendant's registered office or domicile.

With regard to employment law disputes in particular, art. 34 of the Swiss Code of Civil Procedure provides that the court of the defendant's domicile or registered office (i.e. the ordinary court) or the court of the place where the employee habitually carries out his professional activity (a special court) has jurisdiction to rule on disputes between employers and employees. This is a semi-imperative forum, in that the parties can only derogate from it under certain conditions. A semi-imperative forum is provided for certain types of contract between a "weaker" party and a "stronger" party in order to protect the weaker party. In an employment contract, the employee is considered to be the weaker party and cannot validly waive the fora established by law before the dispute arises; a choice of forum nevertheless remains possible after the dispute between the parties has arisen.

In your case, your employer's registered office is in Geneva. You also carry out your professional activity in the canton of Geneva and not in the canton of Vaud, where you cannot bring an action against your employer. The Geneva courts therefore have jurisdiction because of the location, more specifically the Tribunal des Prud'hommes.