SIZ Care Forum 2024: Current trends in labor law, prevention and leadership

For the past 20 years, Kurt Mettler, CEO of SIZ Care AG, a company specializing in health, absence and case management, and his team have been holding a conference at which current issues relating to occupational health management are addressed in various presentations. The Zurich-based company has been supporting and advising companies and insurers with customized services for 25 years. SIZ Care now supports people throughout Switzerland who are unable to work on their way back into the world of work.

"Brain training" at the SIZ Care Forum 2024

As we know, a lot has changed in the world of work over the past two decades. Health, leadership and prevention have become more important, as we can see. After all, healthy employees are a valuable asset in all companies. However, each of us is ultimately responsible for our own physical and mental fitness. With this in mind, Barbara Studer, neuroscientist and brain coach, presented a "strengthening program for brain, body and soul". She encouraged the audience not to ignore emotions in the workplace, but to allow them in. "Emotions bring energy, and emotions need to be talked about," said Barbara Studer. If you become more curious about your own emotions, you can use this in a positive way. And there is also a lot of benefit in being curious about other people: Because it is in diverse thinking, so-called neurodiversity, that the real power of innovation lies. But with so much brain activity, we must not neglect relaxation. Multitasking means stress for the brain, which is why it is more beneficial to focus on specific tasks. And Barbara Studer used a few practical exercises to show how mindfulness, movement and music can be used to steer brain activity in the right direction.

Ongoing topic: Mental stress in the workplace

Nevertheless, psychological stress in the workplace is on the rise. Prof. Dr. Andreas Krause from the FHNW Olten spoke about the constructive handling of psychological risks and resources in companies. Using an overview of studies, he showed that psychosocial risks also have a physical impact, e.g. significantly increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease. According to Health Promotion Switzerland, 25 percent of employees report a critical work situation. This means that companies still have a lot to do to improve this situation. Andreas Krause outlined three ways in which this could be done: By setting up an early warning system (e.g. by obtaining a picture of the mood through surveys), by specifically naming hazards and by strengthening social interaction.

Prof. Dr. med. Matthias Jäger from Psychiatry Baselland then continued these threads from a medical perspective. The speaker emphasized that work has a fundamental effect on health. It provides a livelihood and a sense of purpose, gives a daily structure and can also provide status. Work has a disease-promoting effect when the focus on results gets out of hand, tasks become more concentrated and lead to time pressure and stress. Symptoms of illness are then, for example, sleep disorders, tinnitus, gastrointestinal problems or headaches through to affective disorders or anxiety. Burnout, on the other hand, is not a mental illness per se, but a chronic state of stress. This presents doctors with major challenges when certifying incapacity for work. This is because it does not always mean that recovery is possible, but can also lead to a chronification of the clinical picture.

Discussion points in labor law

Kurt Mettler led the last block of presentations at the SIZ Care Forum 2024. He highlighted a number of cases from employment law practice that have recently caused a stir. These included the "Nestlé case": after a legal dispute lasting more than ten years between a former high-ranking employee and the food company due to systematic bullying, an appeals court ultimately ordered the former employer to pay compensation of CHF 2 million. The court considered it proven that the employee had been systematically bullied by her direct superior and had suffered damage to her health as a result. The employer had breached its duty of care. However, there was no such breach of duty of care in another court case presented by Kurt Mettler. The court found that the plaintiff employee had failed to respond to his employer's suggestions for improvement at all. Another topic of the presentation was workplace-related incapacity for work. A recently published Federal Supreme Court ruling now states that there is no blocking period in the event of job-related incapacity for work and that employees can therefore be dismissed immediately. However, some misunderstandings have caused confusion in reporting. This is because "job-related" is not the same as "job-related" or "work-related". Kurt Mettler doesn't necessarily find these terms helpful either. He would prefer to speak of "job-related prevention of work". In his opinion, the question of the applicability of the blocking period does not even arise, as there is neither an illness nor an accident (facts according to Art. 336c CO). In addition, Art. 324a CO uses the term "prevention of work" and not "incapacity for work" in relation to continued salary payments. And with regard to daily sickness benefits insurance, there would be no question of illness in the case of a work-related incapacity to work, and thus the basic requirement for an obligation to pay benefits would no longer apply.

With 4i to personal and business success

The conference concluded with a presentation by former disabled athlete Lukas Christen. He lost his left leg in a serious motorcycle accident, but this did not prevent him from winning the long jump at the Paralympics in 1992, 1996 and 2000. With his life-affirming attitude - despite the many setbacks he experienced, which he described as a "boot camp for the soul" - he inspired the audience. We are all "chairmen of the board of directors of the human enterprise", he said in his speech. Dealing with unfamiliar changes is an "ongoing task for the Board of Directors". Lukas Christen relies on the "4i concept": Instinct (the primal knowledge), intuition (the gut knowledge, intuition), inspiration (the heart knowledge, feeling) and intellect (head knowledge, reason). This human competence to lead oneself forms the beginning of a chain of effects that can ultimately also be used to lead a team and a company. However, it is always important to follow the principle: "No added value without appreciation". And this should also be the nucleus of any culture that can have a preventative effect against any kind of workplace-related illness.

More information: SIZ Care