The Leisure Revolution is brewing in Switzerland. A popular initiative has been launched to raise the minimum vacation allotment in Switzerland from 4 weeks to 6 weeks. The required 125,000 signatures have been obtained and the Travail Suisse union is expected to formally register the initiative at the end of June.

Companies are already growling over it, calculating that it represents an insidious salary increase of about 4%, without taking into account the accompanying expenses of implementing the change and insuring continuity and production with a greater turnover of employee presence.

HR Managers have responded that if the measure passes, the result will be a strong brake on salary increases.

The Unions are unfazed by these arguments. They are aware that small companies — PMEs — will have difficulties adapting. But they argue that employees are squeezed more and more and have received little in return.

Except for top managerial salaries, wages have stagnated in Switzerland for more than ten years.

The manager of the Travail Suisse campaign for 6 weeks annual vacation argues that nearly half of employees are overworked and that the cost of work stress in Switzerland is nearly CHF 8 billion per year.

Will voters pass the initiative ? In 1985, voters rejected a proposal to increase the minimum annual leave by one week to five weeks/year. Commentators interpreted that conservative result as proof of the strong commitment to work in Switzerland.

But perhaps times have changed since then and the increased competition and globalization of the workplace in Switzerland, as well as different demographics, may lead to a different result this time around.

The institute for Healthy Work and the EPFZ are co-organizing a specialty diploma in the Workplace Medicine, Workplace Hygiene and ergonomics.

This new postgraduate degree — part of the Master of Advanced Studies (MAS) in workplace health—is proposed jointly by the IST (part of the University of Lausanne) and the Ecole Polytechnic of Zurich.

The new curriculum which trains workplace medical staff, hygienists and ergonomics experts is the first of its kind in Switzerland (probably for good reason). The specialists are trained in the prevention and management of workplace accidents, occupational illnesses, and the insuring workplace security, thereby reducing costs related to absenteeism.

In essence, the workplace doctor is responsible for preventing and identifying occupational illnesses, as well as health problems related to employment conditions.
The hygienist is often a scientific profile, and is responsible for protecting employees at the workplace and dealing with occupational risks – chemical, pollution-related, environmental, noise, etc. – from the company’s activities. The domain of the ergonomics expert is the physical workplace environment and its tools, as well as the organization of the work such as to minimize psychological or social troubles.

The specialized curriculum is addressed mainly to professionals with jobs in the field of occupational health or who seek to find employment in work environment health, whether they be doctors, chemists, scientists, engineers, or even psychologists or social scientists.

The proposed curriculum is divided in four parts. Ten modules treat the basics of the profession (health, workplace psychology, physiology, toxicology, law, and workplace risk factors). A further eight modules are devoted to management (project management, executive management, etc.). Then a further ten modules of specialization in three domains of occupational health.

Registration is open until 30 April 2009 at the EPFZ, with coursework beginning in September 2009. Complete information is available at http://www.zoa.ethz.ch/education/continuing/masag