Seasonal statute

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The seasonal statute of 1934 regulated the issuing of short-term residence permits for foreign workers in Switzerland until 2002 (for people from the EU) and 1991 (for people from other countries). It enabled Swiss companies to employ foreign workers in Switzerland for a few months (a "season", hence the name).

purpose

The idea behind the seasonal statute was to attract foreign workers to the Swiss economy without them settling in Switzerland in the long term. This was intended to attract cheap, unskilled labor for industry, the construction industry and the tourism industry, which could be quickly cut back if necessary. This was particularly attractive for sectors of the economy that were affected by strong seasonal fluctuations, for example the hotel industry in winter sports resorts. Social integration or family reunification was not planned.

Politicians reacted to the increased demand for cheap labor by the economy and to the increasing fear of foreign infiltration among the Swiss population. Furthermore, it was believed, especially after the Second World War, that the seasonal statute could create an economic buffer so that foreign workers who had become unemployed could be deported again in the event of a renewed economic crisis or recession.

history

The first political measures to regulate the immigration of so-called " foreign workers " were taken after the outbreak of the global economic crisis . In the "Federal Law on Residence and Settlement of Foreigners" (ANAG) of 1931, the issuing of residence and settlement permits to foreigners was newly regulated. The Federal Council implemented this law in 1934 with the creation of the seasonal statute. In addition, other forms of residence permits were created, such as the short-term residence permit (L), which can only be extended in exceptional cases and which was valid for a maximum of one year, and renewable annual residence permits (B). The Federal Council set the allocation of work permits on the basis of the seasonal statute annually according to the needs of the industries.

At first, the stay of a so-called “seasonal worker” was limited to 11.5 months. From 1973 the stay was reduced to a maximum of nine months per year. Finally, in the final phase of the boom in the 1980s, from 1988 onwards, the Federal Council issued additional permits for a maximum stay of 4 months per year (short-term residence permit). The seasonal workers were not allowed to change their job during their stay or to move their place of residence to another canton. Family reunification was also prohibited.

At first, a seasonal worker could only apply for a permanent residence permit after 10 years. The authorities were later able to allow family reunification if a seasonal worker had used the full duration of his residence permit for four years. As a result, contrary to the intentions of politics, a large group of unskilled workers from Italy, Southeastern Europe and Turkey settled in Switzerland who worked in low-wage industries.

The seasonal statute was repealed in 1991 for persons from outside the European Community (EC). After the entry into force of the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons between Switzerland and the European Union on June 1, 2002, the seasonal statute also lost its validity for EU citizens. Following the revision of the ANAG and the entry into force of the “Federal Act on Foreign Nationals (AuG)” in 2005, the residence of foreigners in Switzerland has been reorganized. The introduction of a new seasonal statute was rejected by Parliament in 2004.

Effects

With the seasonal statute, Switzerland imported a new social "lower class", whose social and educational integration has not yet fully succeeded.

Trade unions and human rights activists criticized the fact that the seasonal statute created “unlawful” workers and caused many cases of social hardship. If, for example, a seasonal person was missing only one day of his maximum nine-month stay during a four-year stay, family reunification was refused.

In addition, the re-entry of women and children was subject to conditions. The worker had to own an apartment that was one room more than the family counted heads. Many families therefore left individual children behind or hid them in Switzerland. In 2014, the trade union federation documented the experiences of seasonal children with the film “Forbidden and hidden - seasonal children tell”, who sometimes never left their homes during the day when they were young. Numerous marriages were also shattered by the long absence of their fathers. Further problems arose with the school integration of half-adult children who were only allowed to move to Switzerland after years.

In economic terms, the seasonal statute made it possible for companies in structurally weak sectors to survive and thus delayed the adaptation of the economic structure to economic development. A correction only took place during the economic crisis of the 1990s.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20100214213933/http://www.duebendorf.ch/dl.php/de/20050303185404/anag.de.pdf “Federal Law on Residence and Settlement of Foreigners” from 1931
  2. ↑ Dictionary of social policy: short-term residents (seasonal status)
  3. ↑ Markus Schneider: "The foreigners take our jobs away from us" (series: The ten greatest errors of economic policy). Balance sheet, February 25, 2004
  4. ↑ Press release from the EDA integration office (PDF; 113 kB)
  5. ↑ http://www.admin.ch/ch/d/sr/142_20/index.html
  6. ↑ http://www.news.ch/Kein+neues+Saisonnierstatut+im+Auslaenderrecht/177086/detail.htm
  7. ↑ Franz Schultheiss: "The dilemma of inequality of opportunity: Social and cultural origins as central factors of school (failure) success"  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. QUIMS network conference 2007.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.vsa.zh.ch  
  8. ↑ Simon Gemperli: Ecopop and the hidden children , NZZ, November 9, 2014
  9. ↑ http://www.sans-papiers.ch/site/uploads/media/Recht_auf_Bildung_02.pdf