尽管越来越多的关注数字货币的雇主已经表明，支付给工人比特币作为它的替代方案，一份新的报告表明，这种做法在瑞士可能并不合法，瑞士的银行及金融业是全球领导者之一。
题为“工资支付的比特币在瑞士劳动法的合法性”的报告由瑞士社会党成员让·克里斯托夫施瓦布执笔，他在去年十二月特别呼吁起草一份关于比特币危险的研究。
施瓦布的报告可能有广泛的意义，因为它表明，根据瑞士法律，支付任何潜在的不稳定的资产换取就业服务是不合法的。
施瓦布告诉CoinDesk ：
“据瑞士劳动法，以实物或外币支付工资的全部或部分是合法的，但支付的金额需要按照合同约定，和当事人或集体劳资协议要求的瑞士法郎的数量相匹配。
然而，以实物或外币支付的工资必须不会对工人有滞后的经济风险，在所有情况下，这种风险必须由雇主承担。 “
评论：比特币的波动有风险，导致目前应用有阻力，这是目前最大的问题。
Paying Workers in Bitcoin May Be Illegal Under Swiss Law
Despite the growing interest digital currency employers have shown in paying their workers in bitcoin and its alternatives, a new report suggests that the practice may not be legal in Switzerland, one of the global leaders in banking and finance.
Entitled “The Legality of Wage Payment in Bitcoin under Swiss Labour Law”, the report was penned by Swiss Socialist Party member Jean Christophe Schwaab, who was notably called upon to draft a study on the dangers of bitcoin last December.
Schwaab’s report could have broad implications, as it suggests that the payment of any potentially volatile assets in exchange for employment services is not legal under Swiss law.
Schwaab told CoinDesk:
“According to Swiss labor law, it is lawful to pay all or part of wages in kind or in foreign currency, provided that the amount paid matches the amount in Swiss franc contractually agreed by the parties or required by the collective labor agreement.
However, the payment of wages in kind or in foreign currency must not cause a postponement of economic risk on the worker, because this risk must in all cases be borne by the employer.”
The report comes just weeks after bitcoin-focused payroll solution provider Bitwagereleased a new survey suggesting nearly one in two bitcoin companies are open to compensating workers in digital currency.
Volatility emerges as key issue
Scwaab asserts that the central roadblock to bitcoin wage payments is bitcoin’sprice volatility, which cannot be legally passed on from an employer to an employee per the country’s Federal Act on the Amendment of the Swiss Civil Code.
Because of bitcoin’s rapid fluctuations in value, Scwaab says that workers would be unable to anticipate their income. The regulation in question, he says, mandates that any salary payments should be sustained in value for at least one month after the payment.
Furthermore, he said, the rules are mandatory, meaning Swiss workers are not able to waive this right under the law to accept bitcoin wages.
Bitcoin bonuses are lawful
The report did not fully limit bitcoin transactions between employers and employees, however.
For example, Scwaab noted that there is no law that prohibits employees from exchanging the wages they earn for BTC. Further, he suggested that payments that are unrelated to a regular full-time salary would be allowed.
Scwaab added:
“A bonus (eg. at the end of the year) in bitcoin is generally lawful.”
Bitcoin Association Switzerland reacts
Speaking to CoinDesk, members of local digital currency trade organization Bitcoin Alliance Switzerland (BAS) also weighed in on the report.
BAS president Luzius Meisser disagreed with Scwaab’s findings, noting how Swiss workers are regularly compensated in payments that do not include the country’s native currency, the Swiss franc (CHF), and that a similar discussion also took place when Swiss lawmakers evaluated the legality of salary payments in euro.
Meisser said:
“Swiss workers regularly receive part of their salary in non-CHF form. For example, when a company provides free food to employees (above a certain level), its value is added to the income and taxed like the regular salary.”
BAS vice president Alexis Roussel believes that even with the findings of the report, it would be possible for digital currency businesses to pay workers in BTC, provided “specific measures are taken by the company to hedge the risk for the employee to ensure [their] revenues are stable”.
Meisser went on to suggest Scwaab’s report may be skewed due to his political associations, stating:
“I am not an expert, but I would take everything that comes from Scwaab with a grain of salt as he is member of the Socialist Party, which was in 2011 also against paying employees in EUR.”
Potential impact
Despite the report’s findings and implications, Meisser doesn’t believe it will have a negative affect on the local startup scene.
Meisser concluded:
“Founders and employees at startups are risk-takers by definition. Here, minimal fixed salaries (sometimes zero) and a high variable bonus (be it in form of equity or bitcoins) are normal.”
He added: “Regardless of what Schwab’s opinion is, startups will continue to do what makes sense to them”.
Swiss francs via Shutterstock
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http://www.3-coin.com/2014-05-15/1675/
