Swiss Hospitality Sector Caught Between Cash-Confiscation Fears and Expiring Tax Break as 280,000 Workers Await New Deal
18.06.2026 - 20:47:59 | boerse-global.de
A bitter fight over forced cash acceptance in restaurants is escalating across Swiss cantons, pitting the industry’s main lobby group against local lawmakers just as parallel negotiations over a new collective labour agreement for 280,000 employees enter a critical phase.
Cantons Aargau and Bern have introduced legislative initiatives that would compel gastronomy businesses to accept physical currency. Geneva already enforces such a rule under threat of fines, prompting legal resistance from hotel associations. Gastrosuisse president Beat Imhof rejects any statutory obligation, insisting on entrepreneurial freedom to decide payment methods.
The standoff coincides with high-stakes talks on the Landes-Gesamtarbeitsvertrag (L-GAV), the nationwide collective employment contract that sets minimum wages, working hours, holiday entitlements and sick-pay rules for the sector. The Hotel & Gastro Union (HGU) is leading negotiations on behalf of workers, with a central aim of preserving the contract’s binding nature across the entire industry. Switzerland’s Federal Council grants binding status on request to prevent wage dumping.
Data published June 17 in the annual FlaM report underlines the enforcement challenge: inspectors checked 38,567 companies – about 7 percent of all Swiss businesses. Among sectors covered by a binding collective agreement, the violation rate stood at 24 percent. In industries without such a contract, it was only 10 percent.
Tax relief set to expire adds pressure
A separate fiscal blow landed on June 16, when the National Council voted not to extend the reduced value-added tax rate of 3.8 percent for accommodation services beyond its current end date of 2027. Hotel association Hotelleriesuisse called the decision contradictory, pointing to an earlier parliamentary motion that demanded planning certainty. Supporters of the cut warn that middle-class hotels will face a tax hike; critics label the reduced rate a costly giveaway. The Council of States will now take up the matter.
The industry had breathed a sigh of relief after voters rejected the so-called 10-million-initiative, which would have capped population growth. HGU president Esther Lüscher said the outcome preserved jobs and wage protection. Imhof cautioned, however, that without the initiative, practical solutions are still needed on issues such as housing shortages; competitiveness must not suffer.
Training successes but rising course fees
On the skills front, a revised vocational programme for system gastronomy is showing results. In August 2025, 16 apprentices began training under a new two-year basic education profile (EBA). Numbers for the three-year programme (EFZ) also increased. The industry’s training body, IG Systemgastronomie, credits a more action-oriented curriculum for making apprenticeships more relevant.
Yet costs for specialised further education are climbing. The Richemont Fachschule in Luzern will raise course prices effective July 1, 2026, after a full-cost analysis found existing fees did not cover expenses. Day courses will range from 425 to 700 francs. Existing subsidies via the collective agreement’s education fund remain in place.
The L-GAV negotiations also address wage continuation during illness and holiday entitlements. Employers who ignore the new rules risk expensive violations, with the current control rate of 24 percent likely to intensify scrutiny across the sector.
