Study to examine feasibility of a four-day workweek launched in Switzerland

The pilot project, to be carried out by the Bern University of Applied Sciences together with a non-profit organisation, 4 Day Week, and a number of Swiss companies, will test the viability of a short workweek.

The reason, according to experts, is that Switzerland’s usual five-day, 42-hour-plus work week, increases stress levels among an increasing number of employees.

Study’s authors estimate “the economic potential” from reducing work-related stress at 6.5 billion francs.

This is not the first time this issue is being brought up in Switzerland: in 2022, while the idea had won support among left-wing MPs, economists argued that businesses, rather than the state. should make decisions regarding working hours. 

The pilot project will las six months.

Private individuals can now get the ‘.swiss’ domains

Launched in 2015 among organisations and public administrations, the “.swiss” domain will become accessible to private individuals from April 24th, the Federal Communications Office (OFCOM) announced.

“Everyone can get this domain name, as long as the person is of Swiss nationality or lives in Switzerland,” said OFCOM spokesperson Caroline Sauser.

To register, you will need to provide your social security (AHV /AVS) number. 

READ ALSO: Can I live in Switzerland without a Social Security number? 

Residents of Switzerland dispose of their trash in Germany

No wonder Switzerland is such a clean country: its garage is tossed away in Germany.

There appear to be two kinds of Swiss cross-border litterers.

The first consists of people who go to Germany to shop and legally leave the packaging from the products they bought at the store.

But then there are also the troublemakers, appropriately nicknamed ‘trash tourists’,  who bring their garbage into Germany with the intention of dumping it there — a practice that naturally vexes officials from the affected communities. 

Beyond being a nuisance,  this practice is also illegal, according to Tobias Herrmann, spokesperson for the Waldshut  (Germany) administration — one of several affected by the trash dumping.

“Once the packaging has crossed the Swiss border, the waste cannot be brought back into Germany,” he said.

In other words, “once it is exported to Switzerland , it may not be re-imported to Germany.”

Swiss food ranks better than before in international survey

In 2023, the Taste Atlas magazine deemed Swiss speciality Riz Casimir as the “the worst rice dish ever.” 

In its most recent ranking, however, the publication was more generous toward Switzerland, bumping it up from the 87th position last year to 37th now.

The country was promoted thanks to its cheese-based traditional fare: fondue and raclette.
 
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