After a legal analyis the government of the canton of Geneva has decided that drivers of the ride hailing service are employees rather than independent contractors, effectively banning Uber from operating under its current model. In an interview with RTS, Mauro Poggia, a lawyer and Geneva state councillor, said that Uber is a transport company […]
Negative rates might go lower, says Swiss National Bank chairman
Thomas Jordan, chairman of the Swiss National Bank (SNB), told the NZZ am Sonntag newspaper recently that central bank interest rates might need to go further into negative territory. Responding to growing criticism of negative central bank interest rates, Jordan said negative interest rates could continue and a further reduction is possible. Could Swiss banks […]
How to learn a language as easily as a child
Brought to you by Swiss French School. Babies and toddlers have several advantages over adults when it comes to language learning. American linguist and cognitive scientist Noam Chomsky believes humans have an innate linguistic capacity that is biologically preset in the human brain. He calls this a Language Acquisition Device (LAD). We were all born with […]
Swiss commission supports new laws to protect whistleblowers
A commission of the Council of States, Switzerland’s upper house, is in favour of new rules to protect whistleblowers. The proposed rules, which would help to protect those who expose secretive information or activity that is deemed illegal or unethical, were supported by 6 commission votes to 2 with 4 abstentions. The proposal, which would […]
Swiss parliamentary commission supports fuel tax hike
The parliamentary environmental commission has endorsed a plan to increase the taxes on fuel in Switzerland. Following support for a fuel tax increase by the Council of States, Switzerland’s upper house, the commission said it supports a rise of 10 cents a litre until 2024 and 12 cents a litre from 2025. These increases are […]
Swiss government cuts drug prices by 100 million francs
Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) recently announced it had reduced the price Swiss healthcare providers and patients will pay for 257 drugs by 16.3%. These lower prices, which take affect on 1 December 2019, are expected to save CHF 100 million annually. The FOPH looked at the prices of 478 drugs and achieved […]
Minimum Swiss internet speed to triple in 2020
The Federal Council, Switzerland’s executive, has confirmed a decision made by parliament to raise the minimum speed of broadband internet connections in Switzerland. From 1 January 2020, the minimum download speed specified in Switzerland’s universal service agreement with Swisscom will rise from 3 to 10 megabits per second (Mbits/s) and the minimum upload speed will […]
Obesity to cut nearly 2 years off Swiss life expectancy
Between 2020 and 2050 obesity is forecast to reduce life expectancy by 2.7 years across the OECD, according to a recently published OECD report. In Switzerland obesity is forecast to shave almost 2 years (1.93) off life expectancy between 2020 and 2050, according to OECD calculations. Its expected impact on Swiss healthy life expectancy (HALE) […]
Switzerland ranked 2nd best place to be a woman
With an overall score of 0.893 Switzerland was beaten only by Norway (0.904) in the 2019 Women, Peace, and Security Index, which ranks 167 countries on women’s equality and well being. The top ten countries were all in Europe while the worst ten were spread across central Asia, the middle east and Africa. The index […]
Swiss flu vaccination day coming soon
Every year, Switzerland has a nationwide flu vaccination day ahead of the winter season. Last flu season an estimated 210,000 people came down with the illness, according to government figures. On flu vaccination day – this year on 8 November – you can go to any participating pharmacy or doctor’s surgery without an appointment and […]
