Swiss employment reference letter template (Arbeitszeugnis)

A full employment reference under Swiss law, structured as the letter your former employee will actually show: identification, role, performance, conduct and a closing formula chosen on purpose. Download the Word file and read what each part signals before you sign.

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Employment reference letter

[Note: This template is a full employment reference (Arbeitszeugnis / certificat de travail) under Swiss law, issued by the employer. It must be true and benevolent at the same time. Complete or delete the text in square brackets, choose every graded wording deliberately, and delete every note like this one before issuing.]

[Note: Print the letter on the employer’s letterhead. It has no addressee: a reference letter is addressed to whoever the employee shows it to. For an interim reference during ongoing employment, change the title to “Interim reference letter”, write the assessment in the present tense and drop the reason for leaving and the farewell elements of the closing.]

Ms/Mr [first name, last name], born on [date of birth, optional], was employed by [company name] from [start date] to [end date] as [function], most recently at a workload of [100]%.

[Note: Identify the employee precisely. If the function changed during the employment, list the stations with their dates, for example “from [date] as [function]”.]

In this function, her/his main responsibilities included:

– [responsibility, e.g. “managing the key accounts in German-speaking Switzerland”]

– [responsibility]

[Note: Describe the job as it really was, concretely enough that a reader can judge the level of responsibility. The nature and duration of the employment must be reflected accurately.]

Ms/Mr [last name] has [good / very good / excellent] professional knowledge and applied it [effectively / very effectively] in practice. She/He worked [carefully and reliably / with great care and reliability], handled a [substantial] workload and delivered work of [good / high / consistently high] quality. She/He performed her/his duties [to our satisfaction / to our full satisfaction / to our complete satisfaction].

[Note: This paragraph carries the assessment of quality, quantity and dedication. Choose each gradation deliberately: the difference between “to our full satisfaction” and “to our complete satisfaction” is read as a grade, and what is missing is read as criticism. Do not use wording you privately understand as code for something worse; the letter must mean what it says.]

Her/His conduct towards superiors, colleagues and clients was [at all times] [courteous and professional / impeccable / exemplary].

[Note: The conduct sentence names all three audiences on purpose. Omitting one of them, typically the superiors, is read as a statement about that relationship. If you name fewer, do it knowingly.]

The employment relationship ends on [date] [at the employee’s request / by mutual agreement / as a result of a restructuring].

[Note: State the reason for leaving neutrally, and leave it out if the employee prefers. Illness, isolated incidents and anything irrelevant to an overall assessment of performance and conduct do not belong in the letter.]

We thank Ms/Mr [last name] for her/his valuable contribution, regret her/his departure and wish her/him every success and all the best for the future, professionally and personally.

[Note: Readers treat the closing formula as part of the assessment: thanks, regret and good wishes together signal a very good reference, and dropped elements weaken it. Keep the closing consistent with the performance paragraph. The letter is signed by a person authorized to sign for the employer, usually the direct superior or the head of HR.]

[Place], [date]

[Company name]

______________________

[First name, last name], [function of the signatory]

When to use this template

Use it when an employee leaves and you owe them a full reference, or when they ask for one along the way. Under Art. 330a CO the employee may at any time request a reference covering the nature and duration of the employment and their performance and conduct. The entitlement needs no reason, and it does not expire with the last day of work: former employees can come back for a letter, or for a corrected one, long after they left.

The choice between a full reference and a mere confirmation of employment is the employee's, not yours. If they ask for a confirmation limited to what the job was and how long it lasted, issue exactly that. The short form is not a sanction; employees choose it when a full assessment would say less than silence.

The same template serves for an interim reference while the employment runs, typically before a supervisor leaves or a reorganisation. Switch to the present tense and drop the farewell elements; the structure stays.

True and benevolent, at the same time

A Swiss reference has two duties that pull against each other. It must be true: accurate and complete on everything a reader needs for an overall picture, because the next employer relies on it. And it must be benevolent, written to support the employee's future, an expression of the employer's duty to protect the employee's personality under Art. 328 CO. Nearly every dispute about a reference is fought in the space between those two duties.

The working rule: facts belong in the letter when they characterise the employment as a whole. An isolated incident does not. Illness does not, unless it defined the employment relationship itself. Anything touching the employee's private life or protected characteristics stays out. When something negative genuinely shaped the record, say it plainly and fairly rather than hinting at it.

Codes are folklore; gradations are real

You may have heard of a secret code in which friendly words mean their opposite. Don't write in it. A letter whose surface says one thing while insiders read another is neither true nor benevolent, and it will not survive a challenge. What is real is that experienced readers weigh gradations: the satisfaction scale in the performance paragraph, whether "at all times" appears in the conduct sentence, whether the closing thanks, regrets and wishes. So write deliberately. Choose the gradation you can defend, keep the closing consistent with the assessment, and accept that a deliberately pale letter is sometimes the honest one.

The letter, part by part

Identification of the employee

The letter opens by naming the employee, the function and the employment period, with the date of birth as an optional placeholder for unambiguous identification. If the function changed over the years, list the stations with their dates; a promotion is part of the record and usually speaks for the employee.

Role and responsibilities

A short paragraph and a bulleted list describe what the job actually involved. Write it concretely enough that a stranger can gauge the level of responsibility. This part is pure fact; inflating it does the employee no favour, because the assessment that follows is read against it.

Performance

One paragraph assesses quality, quantity and dedication, with placeholder gradations for each. This is where you write the grade: "to our full satisfaction" and "to our complete satisfaction" are read as different marks, and the template forces the choice into brackets so you make it consciously rather than by habit.

Conduct

The conduct sentence covers behaviour towards superiors, colleagues and clients, all three on purpose. Leaving one group out is read as a statement about that relationship, so name fewer only when you mean to.

Reason for leaving

The template states the reason neutrally as a placeholder: at the employee's request, by mutual agreement, following a restructuring. If the employee prefers no reason at all, omit it; a neutral or absent reason is standard and raises no eyebrows.

Closing formula and signature

Thanks, regret and good wishes close the letter, and readers treat this formula as part of the assessment, which the drafting note in the document flags. The letter carries place and date and is signed by someone authorized to sign for the employer, normally the direct superior or the head of HR; a reference signed by someone who never worked with the employee convinces nobody.

Adapting it to your situation?

A template covers the standard case. A lawyer covers yours: fixed scope, fixed price, and a document you can actually sign.

Discuss your matter

This template and the guidance around it are general information, not legal advice. Whether they fit your situation depends on the facts, if in doubt, ask.

Questions

Frequently asked questions

Can an employer refuse to issue a reference letter?

No. Every employee can require one, during the employment as an interim reference and at its end as a full reference, and the choice between the full reference and a mere confirmation of employment is also the employee's. The employer cannot substitute the short confirmation to avoid writing an assessment. What the employer does control is the pen: the wording is the employer's, as long as it is true and does not needlessly harm.

Can the employee demand changes to the letter?

They can always ask, and often should: the first draft is a proposal, and most corrections are agreed without any formality. If the employer refuses, the employee can go to court to have the reference rectified, and the court examines whether the text is true, complete and benevolently phrased. The choice of words stays with the employer even then; the employee is entitled to a correct assessment, not to their preferred adjectives.

How long after leaving can a former employee still ask for a reference?

The entitlement does not end with the employment; requests months or years later are common and generally must be honoured for as long as the claim is not time-barred under the general rules. Waiting has a practical cost, though: memories fade, supervisors leave and records thin out, so the letter tends to get shorter and paler the longer the request waits. Issue the reference at departure and keep the underlying facts on file.

What if we cannot honestly praise the employee?

Then don't praise. Truth wins over benevolence where the two collide: benevolence governs the tone and forbids needless harshness, but it never obliges you to certify performance that was not there. Describe the role accurately, grade performance at the level you can defend, and leave out isolated incidents that say nothing about the overall picture. A sober, merely satisfactory reference is lawful. What is not acceptable is disguising criticism in code or in pointed omissions the employee cannot contest.

Don't sign the standard case.

Tell us what the document is for. You get a version drafted for your situation, reviewed by a lawyer, at a fixed price.

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