Refugees with protection status S should find it easier to get jobs
Published: Wednesday, Mar 13th 2024, 09:20
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Refugees with protection status S should find it easier to get a job in Switzerland. Parliament wants to replace the current work permit requirement with a registration requirement.
After the National Council, the Council of States also adopted a corresponding motion on Wednesday - by 29 votes to 15 with one abstention. The ball is now in the Federal Council's court.
The motion was launched by the National Council's Political Institutions Committee (SPK-N). The motion also found a majority in the Council of States' sister committee. Speaking on behalf of the SPK-S, Tiana Angelina Moser, a member of the Zurich GLP Council of States, said that the aim was to improve the integration of people with S status into the labor market.
An obligation to register would bring more flexibility, as people with protection status S could be hired immediately if required. It would also have less of a deterrent effect on potential employers, as only an online form would need to be completed. "It's about reducing bureaucracy."
Protected status guaranteed until 2025
The Federal Council also voted in favor of the motion. Justice Minister Beat Jans said that the national government wanted to increase the number of working persons from Ukraine with S protection status from the current twenty percent to forty percent by the end of 2024. The change from a permit to a registration requirement is an important element on the way to achieving this goal.
A minority of SVP and centrist representatives, on the other hand, were of the opinion that the current procedure with a permit application was already quick and easy to complete. With a notification requirement, checks on pay and working conditions would only be carried out retrospectively and on a random basis, whereas with a permit requirement, they would be carried out in advance and systematically. Esther Friedli (SVP/SG) spoke of an "erosion of employee protection".
S status is granted to refugees from Ukraine and their close relatives. According to the Federal Council, around 66,000 people with S status were living in Switzerland at the beginning of December. Last November, the Federal Council decided not to revoke S status before March 4, 2025.
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