Full or interim employment reference — under article 330a OR, an employee may at any time request a certificate that is simultaneously truthful (wahr) and benevolent (wohlwollend); Switzerland has a strong tradition of "coded" phrasing, so the rating fields below map to standard scale wording.
⚠️ This is a blank template, not legal advice: check the wording with a lawyer and adapt it to your jurisdiction and your case.
This template has no optional clauses: the text is the same for everyone.
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EMPLOYMENT REFERENCE CERTIFICATE ( — article 330a Code of Obligations "OR"/"CO")
To whom it may concern,
was employed with us as "" from to .
1. LEGAL BASIS 1.1. Under article 330a OR, an employee may at any time request a reference (Arbeitszeugnis) — a full reference at the end of employment (Vollzeugnis) or, on request during ongoing employment, an interim reference (Zwischenzeugnis). Reason for this reference: . 1.2. A Swiss reference must be simultaneously TRUTHFUL (wahr) and BENEVOLENT (wohlwollend) — it may not contain anything false, but it must be worded to give the employee a fair chance in the job market. It must also be complete: silently omitting an important, negative fact is itself considered misleading.
2. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES 2.1.
3. PERFORMANCE 3.1. performed the assigned tasks . 3.2. ⚠️ Swiss reference culture uses standardised, "coded" phrasing — for example "bemühte sich" ("endeavoured to") is widely read as a euphemism for poor performance. Choose the rating that genuinely and fairly reflects the employee's performance; do not default to the top rating if it is not warranted, and do not use a lower-tier phrase to disguise a personal conflict.
4. CONDUCT 4.1. Conduct towards superiors, colleagues and guests/clients was .
5. REASON FOR LEAVING 5.1.
6. CLOSING 6.1. We thank for their service and wish them every success in their future career.
Issued on by .
______________ / /
This is a boilerplate template, not legal advice. Swiss employment, consumer-protection, data-protection, and food-safety law (Code of Obligations "OR"/"CO", L-GAV/CCNT für das Gastgewerbe, Arbeitsgesetz "ArG"/ArGV 1, Datenschutzgesetz "DSG" 2023, LMG/LGV) includes significant cantonal variation (minimum wages, Meldeschein/guest-registration forms, Kurtaxe rates, Spesenreglement approval, hygiene guidance, alcohol age limits) and the L-GAV minimum-wage figures are re-indexed every year — have this document reviewed and adapted by a Swiss employment/legal advisor and verified against your canton before use. Where a German-, French- or Italian-language version of this document is also used, that version prevails in case of conflict.
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5 of 14 fields are taken from the company, employee or counterparty record, the questionnaire can be dictated to the AI, and the finished document comes with a number, a PDF and an acknowledgement record.