We help you lead a well-balanced life from when you join us to retirement and beyond. With our attractive additional benefits, we help improve your quality of life – because we care about you.
Decisive start.
SBB sees itself as a pioneer in flexible and modern models of working. We make it possible for you to work part-time and at home. Job sharing is also an important topic for us. Even in management positions, we make it possible for you to combine your family and your career. Whether you are young or old, we guarantee you more free time so you can lead a well-balanced life.
Plan your free time flexibly.
Have you always wanted to go on a long trip, or make your dreams, desires or new family become a reality? The Flexa model gives you this opportunity. While employed by SBB, you can decide for yourself how you save time or monetary value in a long-term account. That means you can save part of your flexitime hours, leave days or monthly salary. You can use this stored value at the time that suits you best, either to take long-term holiday or to reduce your regular working hours.
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MarkusArnold
Active Flexa user and athletic, nature-loving dog owner who likes to play the alphorn.
Activities.
SBB aktiv is an internet platform for all employees. It offers a great variety of activities for sport lovers and culture vultures alike. You can experience and discover new things together with your colleagues. Have you always wanted to play volleyball, join a literature circle or improve your language skills over lunch? Amongst the great variety of activities we offer, you will certainly find something for you.
Meet new people, share experiences and enjoy plain discussions, in French.
NathalieJung
Coach of the "table française", cat lover with a passion for country line dancing.
You can reduce your working time on a daily, weekly, or annual basis:
Daily.
Your working time is reduced according to the chosen level of employment. For example, you can work every morning or around five hours every day. This model is particularly suitable for employees who have a hobby which regularly requires a lot of their time, value having more time to themselves each day, or have arranged half-day child care.
Weekly.
You can take your time off on fixed or varying days of the week. The desired days off are set in advance, either within the scope of monthly planning or as fixed part-time days. This model is particularly suitable for employees with set child care, secondary employment or when working in shifts.
Yearly.
Your workload fluctuates periodically, but you are paid at a set, binding part-time rate. Your overtime can be made up on a daily or weekly basis. This model is especially suited to employees with project-based work or who like to organise their leisure time flexibly.
Part-time trial.
What sounds good in theory, does not always turn out to be in practice. At SBB, you can reduce your working hours by up to 20% for a period of three months, so long as this does not fall short of the 50% mark. During this time you can test whether you like working reduced hours. If it turns out a reduction in hours isn’t right for you, you can go back to working your original hours without any problem.
Work that isn’t fixed to one location, for your perfect work-life balance.
To help you be flexible and balance leisure and work time, SBB offers “Work Smart” as an option in many careers. You can choose for yourself where and when you work on a flexible basis: at home, in different SBB locations, on clients’ premises or on the move. In this way, you can carry out your activities efficiently and save resources.
Requirements.
If your career profile allows, you can make the most of flexible working opportunities in agreement with your superior. A written agreement has proved worthwhile for regular use of Work Smart offers such as working from home.
Good organisation is required for Work Smart. There are several tools available to help you with this. Exciting courses, online training programmes, guides and recipes for success are all waiting for you.
The advantages for you.
Both you and SBB as your employer benefit from Work Smart. Thanks to mobile working, you can decide independently what your ideal working location is, and so work more efficiently and with greater focus. In this way, you can cleverly use out-of-office time as working time and actively manage your commuting habits. Greater flexibility gives you a better quality of life, and so has a positive impact on your work-life balance.
You receive compensation in money (CHF 6/hour for night work and CHF 16/hour for Sunday work) or time (10-30 %) for irregular work. To ensure your well-being, even when working irregular shifts, we are also committed to preventive health measures.
Compensation for inconvenience or expenses.
Inconvenience includes restrictions, limitations or an excessive workload due to shift work.
Time supplements for working evenings or nights are deducted from the working time required. That means that night shifts are shorter or you can take additional days off. As SBB staff, you can benefit from different supplements depending on your area of work. Working nights or on Sundays means supplementary pay. That also applies to work which has to be carried out under particularly challenging conditions, for example in track construction or functions necessary for maintaining overall rail operations.
In areas relating to disruption resolution, SBB distinguishes between four different on-call services. The time credit you are eligible for as compensation for your duty varies accordingly. In each of the four on-call categories, you earn hours in a time account and can thus increase your leisure time. So you receive fair compensation for being available at the drop of a hat.
If you incur expenses when working, for example for overnight stays or main meals away from your place of work, these will of course be refunded. Main meals for train crew members and in some cases also for construction staff are refunded via a flat-rate daily allowance.
Find out more about the countless advantages and attractive additional benefits we offer and the various options available to you to achieve a great work-life balance on our Benefits page.
Our future-oriented work models offer staff with particularly strenuous duties and/or a low income the option of choosing early retirement or a gradual reduction in their workload:
From 60, you can benefit from the Valida model. For two years, you can receive income equivalent to your full wage from the Valida foundation or enjoy gradual early retirement with reductions in your workload when you want them. During your early retirement, your pension fund contributions will continue to be paid. So that means there’s no reduction to your final pension and the payments out you receive.
The future-oriented work model Priora allows you to benefit from SBB contributions to your transitional pension which are higher than the norm. Under Priora, 80% of the OASI transitional pension will be paid out by the SBB pension fund from age 62. Without Priora, SBB will cover 20% of the costs of your transitional pension from age 60.
Staff in all professions can choose one of the two following future-oriented work models:
The Activa work model helps you to get ready for retirement step by step, meaning you can continue to work beyond retirement age.
Flexa is a lifetime working time model which offers staff the option of saving time and/or money in a time account and then taking it as a long holiday or a working time reduction.
We plan shifts in line with research into the consequences for health as far as possible. This concerns the order of shifts or the number of night shifts. We also provide catering where possible. When planning shifts, we take into account your personal requests and consider the needs of older staff as far as operational constraints allow.
SBB staff can attend various training courses which provide ideal preparation for working shifts. The tips provided help staff to stay physically and mentally fit. Participants learn more about the consequences of having an irregular sleep rhythm, skipping meals or facing social challenges because of working shifts. Courses such as ‘Shift Work and Health’ and ‘Diet and Shift Work’ have been conceived to prevent the most frequent risks.
No one misses out.
SBB offers the opportunity to share a position with a colleague. You can apply directly as a pair, or we can help you to find the right job share for you. Positions can be shared with an equal (50:50) or different workload split (e.g. 40:60). When deciding the workload division we make sure that someone is always on the job. That way, you can enjoy your private life without your work being forgotten.
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High-level sport at SBB.
SBB helps high-level sportspeople balance their work and sporting career. Thanks to Work Smart and working hours calculated on an annual basis, working hours can fit around individual training goals. So that means long absences for competitions or training camps are also possible. New athletes are also supported by mentors when starting their career with us.
Benefit from countless advantages.
Holidays and leave.
Our holiday rules guarantee all staff employed under the collective agreement at least 25 days of holiday. Until the calendar year in which you turn 20, you will have 30 days of holiday available. From age 50, you benefit from 30 days of holiday, and from age 60 you benefit from 35 days of holiday.
We also grant you generous time off for exceptional circumstances. You receive three days for your marriage, up to three days for the death of a close relative and one day for a change of residence for private reasons.
If your level of employment is over 50 per cent and you are employed for over a year, you are eligible to receive a 2nd class GA Travelcard. For a small supplement, you can become a 1st class GA Travelcard holder. If you do not fulfil this requirement, you are eligible for a Half Fare Travelcard. Of course, your family will also benefit from a wide-ranging offer.
The platform SBB Benefit offers attractive offers at preferential prices. You will receive up to 50% discount on services and products such as museum entry, fitness centre visits, contact lenses, care products, residential language courses, branding products and much more. You can even get discounts for shopping at the station.
We take care of you.
Loyalty rewards.
We value and reward your loyalty. Following your seventh and 15th year in employment, you will receive a loyalty reward of 1/48 of your annual salary. Following 20 years, this increases to 1/24 and then every five years to 1/12 of your annual salary. You decide whether you want to use this reward as monetary value or holiday time.
Illness and accidents.
If you fall ill or have an accident, we will also support you. Therefore, you are eligible to receive continued salary payments for two years. These payments will be made until the end of your employment relationship at the latest. If your level of employment is at least 20%, you are additionally insured against non-occupational accidents by the Swiss National Accident Insurance Organisation. The premium is deducted directly from your salary.
The benefits of SBB’s pay system go above and beyond the legal requirements.
Our fair and progressive remuneration system is something we are proud of. And for good reason. For the second year in a row, SBB has been awarded the We Pay Fair label. That means we received the highest certification level for a fair remuneration system for women and men. We reward individual performance, take the nature of the job market into account and create transparency. An audit by the University of St. Gallen Competence Centre for Diversity & Inclusion revealed that women earned on average 0.6% less than men at SBB in 2021. This means SBB comes in considerably below the Confederation’s tolerance limit of 5% and has effectively achieved equal pay. SBB commissions an external audit of equal pay at the company every year and continually develops its remuneration system to reflect current and future challenges.
Levels of requirement.
Your salary is based on clearly defined criteria. These include training, relevant work experience and internal and external benchmarks. The wage bands for the relevant level of requirement are available on the SBB intranet at any time. Your annual pay rise is also published on the intranet and is available for every member of staff to see. The transparency creates a positive working environment and you always know where you stand.
Regional supplement.
Regional supplements are SBB’s way of evening out regional wage disparities. Your salary is therefore also dependent on your place of work. The place of work laid down in your contract defines your eligibility for a regional supplement. For a full time employee, this is CHF 3,000 annually at level 1 and CHF 4,800 annually at level 2. If you work part-time, these figures reduce in line with your level of employment.
Supplements.
If you work on Sundays or at night, you will benefit from attractive supplements.
Your employment contract is based on the SBB collective agreement, whatever your job or the level of your position. This was developed in negotiation with employees’ associations. That guarantees you stable working conditions and the right to participation and a say within the company.
Probation period and working time.
Your probation period generally lasts three months. Your working hours are calculated based on the annual working time model, based on a five-day 41-hour working week. In case of part-time work or job sharing, your working time is reduced proportionally. Thanks to individual recording of working time, you as an employee and SBB always have a clear view of your overtime and absences. If your annual salary is over CHF 120,000, then you can choose not to record working time. As compensation, SBB offers you days off on pre-defined bridging days.
Notice period.
If your contract is terminated, by you or by us, the notice period in the first five years is three months, from the sixth to the tenth year of employment it is four months, and from the eleventh year of employment onwards it is six months.
Code of Obligations.
A marginal proportion of our workforce are subject to the Code of Obligations. Certain elements of their terms of employment differ from those provided by the collective agreement, for example regarding holidays.
Relax and save for retirement.
SBB Pension Fund.
The SBB Pension Fund is one of the largest pension funds in Switzerland. It insures around 56,000 people and manages capital of around CHF 18 billion. The coverage ratio is over 100%. Though originally founded as a pension and support fund, it is now a foundation under private law and offers you wide-ranging provision. The provision exceeds the minimum stipulated by the BVG (Swiss pension fund law) and provides more security in old age. The contributions to the 2nd pillar depend on your income and are deducted directly from your salary. But as an employer, SBB also makes generous contributions to the financing of savings and insurance contributions. The money saved and paid in over years can be withdrawn following retirement, death or invalidity.
When planning your pension, you can find ideal assistance for taking stock of your personal situation through our seminars. The SBB Pension Fund also provides you with advice on many different situations in life, covering health issues, questions of law and tax and information about social insurance.
In addition, the SBB staff saving account offers deposit accounts at attractive conditions. It is an essential link between you and SBB which forges shared identity. The money you invest will receive a preferential interest rate. SBB will place the deposits into general investments such as real estate and rolling stock. The deposits are underwritten by SBB.
Deposit account.
This account for active and retired employees of SBB and its subsidiaries is for capital formation. The deposits are made via your private account or via regular salary or pension deductions. However, the account is not suitable for making regular money transfers.
Youth deposit account.
The youth deposit account is available to trainees and employees under the age of 20. With capital of up to CHF 25,000, they benefit from a preferential rate of interest. Your balance above this threshold will receive the normal deposit account interest rate. When you reach the age limit, the youth deposit account will automatically become a deposit account.
Mortgage interest account.
The mortgage interest account can only be used for making transactions related to mortgage financing to the SBB Pension Fund by direct debit.
Look forward to retirement.
Alongside the Flexa lifetime working time model, subject to certain conditions, SBB offers you the opportunity to use one of three different retirement models: Activa, Valida or Priora.
With Activa you can plan your future as you so desire. You have the option of reducing your working hours from age 60 in exchange for working up to three years beyond the standard pension age. This model is based on the mutual agreement of all those concerned.
