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WORKING IN SWITZERLAND

Public holidays: What days will you get off work in Switzerland in 2024?

Switzerland has many official public holidays at the national, cantonal, and regional level. Here's what to know to plan your long weekends and getaways in 2024.

Published: 17 November 2023 16:03 CET
Updated: 4 February 2024 07:29 CET
Public holidays: What days will you get off work in Switzerland in 2024?
Switzerland has public holidays on a national, cantonal and regional level. Image by Clickphoto Switzerland from Pixabay.

In Switzerland, public holidays and the days that are treated as public holidays (with the exception of August 1st), are set by the cantons.

Only a few public holidays will give everyone a day off work throughout Switzerland.

Here are the public holidays for 2024, including where and why some Swiss celebrations are observed.

National Holidays

January 1st, Monday – New Year’s Day

August 1st, Thursday – Swiss National Day, Switzerland’s only national public holiday, commemorates the founding of the Swiss Confederation.

May 9th, Thursday – Ascension day

Ascension day is synonymous with the German and Austrian holiday Christi Himmelfahrt and commemorates Jesus’s ascension to heaven. Find out more about how (and where) it is celebrated in Switzerland in The Local’s article on the topic.

December 25th, Wednesday – Christmas Day

Cantonal Holidays

January

January 2nd, Tuesday – Berchtold’s Day (celebrated in Aargau, Bern, Fribourg, Glarus, Jura, Lucerne, Neuchâtel, Obwalden, Schaffhausen, Thurgau, Vaud, Zug, and Zurich)

January 6th, Saturday – Three King’s Day (Ephiphany)

 According to Western belief, Epiphany refers to the three wise men from the who were led to Jesus by the Star of Bethlehem and historians assume that the Epiphany festival, or Dreikönigstag, has existed in Switzerland since 1311.

READ MORE: Dreikönigstag: How does Switzerland celebrate ‘Three Kings Day’

March

March 1st, Friday – Republic Day

Republic Day – a Swiss regional public holiday – is marked each year on March 1st in Neuchâtel when the canton celebrates becoming a republic within the Swiss Confederation.

March 19th, Tuesday – St Joseph’s Day (marked in Graubünden, Lucerne, Nidwalden, Schwyz, Solothurn, Ticino, Uri, and Valais)

March 29th, Friday – Good Friday (National, except Ticino and Valais)

April

April 1st, Monday – Easter Monday (National, except Neuchatel, Solothurn, Valais, Zug)

April 4th, Thursday – Näfels Ride (celebrated in Glarus)

April 15th, Saturday – Sechseläuten (celebrated in Zurich)

May

May 1st, Wednesday – Labour Day (International Workers’ Day)

Though people in Zurich, Basel–Stadt, Basel–Land, Jura, Neuchâtel, Schaffhausen, Thurgau and Ticino are granted a full day off work, in Aargau and Solothurn, workers are usually only given a half day off (from 12noon).

In some cantons, such as Freiburg and St. Gallen, a half day is usually given to cantonal workers on Labour Day.

May 20th, Monday – Whit Monday (every canton, except Valais)

May 30th, Thursday – Corpus Christi (celebrated in Aargau, Lucerne, Uri, Schwyz, Obwalden, Nidwalden, Zug, Fribourg, Solothurn, Appenzell Innerrhoden, Ticino, Valais, and Jura)

June

June 23rd, Sunday – Jura Independence Day

June 29th, Saturday – Feast of Saints Peter and Paul (celebrated in Ticino)

August

August 15th, Thursday – Assumption Day (holiday in Lucerne, Obwalden, Nidwalden, Schwyz, Ticino, Uri, Valais and Zug. And it is a holiday in some municipalities in Aargau, Basel-Country, Freiburg, Graubündern, and Soluthurn)

September

September 5th, Thursday – Jeûne genevois (Geneva Thanksgiving)

September 9th, Monday – Knabenschiessen (Traditional shooting competition held only in Zurich)

September 15th, Sunday – Swiss Federal Feast (National, except Geneva and Zug)

September 16th, Monday – Lundi du Jeûne federal (Federal Day of Thanksgiving, Repentance and Prayer in Vaud)

September 25th, Wednesday – Saint Nicholas of Flüe Day (celebration of the patron saint of Switzerland in Obwalden)

November

November 1st, Friday – All Saints’ Day

Those who work in the cantons of Appenzell Innerrhoden, Fribourg, Glarus, Jura, Lucerne, Obwalden, Nidwalden, St. Gallen, Schwyz, Ticino, Uri, Valais, and Zug will get to enjoy an entire day off work.

Those working in other regions may still be entitled to a half-day off. Read on here to find out where in Switzerland that is the case.

December

December 8th, Sunday – Immaculate Conception Day (celebrated in Aargau, Appenzell Innerrhoden, Fribourg, Graubünden, Lucerne, Nidwalden, Obwalden, Solothurn, Schwyz, Ticino, Uri, Vaud, and Zug)  

December 26th, Thursday – St Stephen’s Day (National, except Geneva, Jura, Valais, and Vaud).

December 31st, Tuesday – Restoration Day (celebrated in Geneva)

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WORKING IN SWITZERLAND

Switzerland sees record high immigration from European countries

Switzerland has seen record immigration from European countries and a new report reveals a correlation with the country's low unemployment rate.

Published: 25 June 2024 11:28 CEST
Switzerland sees record high immigration from European countries

Lots of data indicates that Switzerland needs foreign workers to fill job vacancies.

Now a report from the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) confirms the importance that employees from the European Union and EFTA (Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein) have had for Switzerland’s labour market and economy in general. 

That is why “demand for foreign labour was strong in Switzerland in 2023,” SECO said in its annual report published on Monday, which assessed the impact that the Free Movement of Persons agreement (FMPA) has had on the country’s employment.

In 2023, 68,000 people from EU and EFTA countries came to work in Switzerland, according to SECO, driven by “employment growth that has significantly exceeded the EU average.”

Why does Switzerland need EU / EFTA workers?

Simply put, they are needed for the country’s economy to function optimally.

As SECO pointed out, while the number of pensioners is growing (due mostly to Switzerland’s exceptionally high life expectancy), “Swiss working-age population has experienced only slow growth over the past 20 years.”

“The country’s economic growth is not possible without immigration,” said Simon Wey, chief economist at the Swiss Employers’ Union. “We need foreign labour if we want to maintain our level of prosperity.”  

READ ALSO: How EU immigrant workers have become ‘essential’ for Switzerland 

In what sectors is the need for these workers the highest?

“A large number of people from the EU coming to work in Switzerland are highly qualified and are employed in demanding activities in high-growth branches of the service sector, such as the branch of special, scientific and technical activities, that of information and communication or the health sector;” SECO’s report said.

But the Swiss economy also recruits EU nationals as low-skilled labour, particularly in the hotel and catering industry, as well as construction and industry.

Why are only people from the EU / EFTA states recruited?

The reason is that, unlike nationals of third countries, people from the EU / EFTA have an almost unlimited access to the Swiss employment market, thanks precisely to the FMPA. 

Also, those coming from the neighbour countries (as most of Switzerland’s foreign labour force does), have the required language skills to easily integrate into the workforce in language-appropriate Swiss regions.
 

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