Swiss employment contract while living in France: which law applies and what differs from a French contract

If you live in France and habitually work in Switzerland, your contract is normally governed by Swiss law, the law of the country where you habitually carry out your work. A Swiss court applies that rule under article 121 of the Swiss Private International Law Act (LDIP). A French court reaches the same result under the Rome I Regulation (article 8) when the parties made no choice: the law of the country in which, or from which, you habitually work. Where you live is not part of that test.

Working from home in France does not change the rule, but it weighs in the assessment: the larger the share done from France, the more the habitual place of work becomes a real question. Rome I also applies the law of another country if all the circumstances show the contract is more closely connected with it. In the usual case the contract is governed by the Swiss Code of Obligations (Code des obligations, CO), not the French Labour Code (Code du travail). According to OCSTAT, 414,262 cross-border workers (frontaliers) were working in Switzerland in the second quarter of 2026.

To bring a claim against your Swiss employer, you normally go to the Swiss courts: under article 19 of the Lugano Convention, the employer can be sued in the courts of the country where it is domiciled, or in the court of the place where you habitually work. If that place is in Switzerland, both options lead to Switzerland, before the canton’s employment court. A French labour court (conseil de prud’hommes) only has jurisdiction if your habitual place of work, or your last one, is in France.

It does not work the other way round: your employer can only sue you in the courts of the country where you are domiciled, which is France (article 20). A contract clause naming another court only applies if it was agreed after the dispute arose, or if it lets you go to courts in addition to those of the Convention (article 21). A jurisdiction clause signed when you were hired cannot take away the Swiss court or the court of your workplace.

Before signing, check the clauses that depart from the Swiss legal minimum and the clauses on governing law and jurisdiction. The Code of Obligations leaves wide room to the contract, but several departures require a written agreement or a collective labour agreement (convention collective de travail, CCT). If a CCT binds your employer, its terms apply directly and any contrary contract clause is void, unless it is more favourable to you (article 357 CO).

Points to read closely:

• probation (temps d’essai): one month without a clause, three months at most by written agreement (art. 335b CO);
• notice period (délai de congé): can be changed in writing, but not below one month, except by a CCT and in the first year (art. 335c CO);
• 13th month salary: the CO does not require one; a bonus is owed only if agreed, and pro rata on leaving only if that is also agreed (art. 322d CO);
• overtime: a written agreement can exclude the 25 % premium (art. 321c CO);
• law and court: only French or Swiss law can be chosen, and a jurisdiction clause signed in advance cannot remove a court given by the Lugano Convention;
• written terms: the contract needs no particular form (art. 320 CO), but the employer must give you in writing, within one month, the parties, start date, job, salary and weekly working hours (art. 330b CO).