Canada, Switzerland Contrast 45-Hour Workweek Caps and 1.5x Overtime Rules for Cross-Border Employers
Updated
Updated · Littler Mendelson PC · Jun 25
Canada, Switzerland Contrast 45-Hour Workweek Caps and 1.5x Overtime Rules for Cross-Border Employers
3 articles · Updated · Littler Mendelson PC · Jun 25
Summary
Canada and Switzerland frame working-time compliance differently: Canada generally triggers overtime after 8 hours a day or 40 a week in British Columbia, while Switzerland caps many employees at 45 or 50 hours a week.
British Columbia pays 1.5 times regular wages for overtime and double time after 12 hours in a day, with averaging agreements allowing longer shifts without standard overtime in some cases.
Switzerland separates contractual overtime from statutory overtime, with work above legal weekly limits generally requiring either equivalent time off or a 25% premium under the Labour Act.
Both systems also limit excessive scheduling through rest-period rules, while employers increasingly use hybrid work, flextime, annualized hours and other flexible models to match operational demand.
For cross-border employers, the comparison highlights a shared goal—flexibility with worker protections—but different compliance risks around thresholds, record-keeping and compensation.