Workspace Ergonomics: What Swiss Employers Are Legally Required to Provide

Workspace ergonomics isn’t just a wellness perk in Switzerland — much of it is rooted in legal obligation. Under the Swiss Labour Act (Arbeitsgesetz) and its implementing ordinances, employers must provide workplaces that protect employees’ health, including their physical comfort and posture at work. For office-based businesses, this affects everything from desk and chair specifications to lighting, temperature, and air quality.

This guide gives an overview of what Swiss law says about workspace ergonomics, what that means in day-to-day terms for an office, and practical steps employers can take to stay compliant and support employee well-being.

This article provides general information for orientation purposes and is not legal advice. For specific compliance questions, consult SECO (the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs), your cantonal labour inspectorate, or a qualified workplace health and safety advisor.

What Swiss Law Says About Workspace Ergonomics

The core legal framework comes from the Labour Act (ArG) and its ordinances, which require employers to take all measures necessary to protect the health of employees, “as far as is reasonable given the state of the art.” This general duty of care extends to:

Layout and dimensions of workstations
Furniture and equipment provided to employees
Environmental conditions such as lighting, temperature, noise, and air quality

Rather than a single “ergonomics law,” these requirements are spread across the Labour Act, its ordinances (notably Ordinance 3, ArGV 3, on health protection), and guidance issued by SECO that interprets and operationalizes these duties for employers.

ArGV 3 and SECO Guidelines: What They Mean in Practice

ArGV 3 sets out health protection requirements for workplaces, covering areas such as room dimensions, climate, lighting, and the design of workstations. SECO publishes more detailed explanatory guidance and checklists that help employers translate these general legal requirements into concrete workplace standards.

In practice, this guidance addresses things like:

Minimum space and movement allowances around desks and workstations
Requirements for natural light and view to the outside where reasonably possible
Standards for artificial lighting levels appropriate to the task
Acceptable ranges for indoor temperature and air quality
Noise level considerations for open-plan and shared spaces

Employers are expected to use this guidance when setting up or renovating office space, and labour inspectorates can reference it when assessing compliance.

Ergonomic Requirements for Screen Workstations

Given how much office work involves computer use, screen-based (“VDU”) workstations receive particular attention. Key ergonomic principles include:

Desk height and depth: enough surface area for screen, keyboard, and documents, with the option for height adjustment to suit different users
Chair design: adjustable height, backrest, and armrests to support a neutral seated posture
Screen positioning: top of the screen at or slightly below eye level, at a comfortable viewing distance, with the screen perpendicular to windows to reduce glare
Keyboard and mouse placement: positioned to allow forearms to rest in a relaxed, roughly horizontal position

Where employees work from height-adjustable desks, the ability to alternate between sitting and standing is increasingly considered good practice, supporting the broader goal of reducing prolonged static postures.

Lighting, Temperature, and Air Quality Standards

Beyond desk and chair design, the broader physical environment plays a major role in comfort and health:

Lighting: adequate, glare-free lighting suited to screen-based work, with access to natural light where possible
Temperature: indoor temperatures kept within a comfortable working range, accounting for season and activity level
Air quality: sufficient ventilation and fresh air supply, particularly in densely occupied offices

These environmental factors interact with ergonomics directly — for example, poor lighting can lead employees to lean toward screens, and uncomfortable temperatures can cause people to adopt awkward postures to stay warm or cool.

Standing Desks, Adjustable Chairs, and Employer Obligations

Swiss guidance places particular emphasis on adjustability, since no single desk or chair setting suits every employee. In practice, this means:

Chairs are adjustable for height, backrest angle, and ideally armrests, so each employee can find a supportive seated position
Desks allow correct elbow and wrist positioning for the individual using them
Where prolonged screen work is the norm, height-adjustable (sit-stand) desks are increasingly provided to allow employees to alternate between sitting and standing
Accessories such as monitor arms, footrests, and external keyboards are made available where needed to support correct posture

Providing adjustable furniture is only part of the picture — employers also have an ongoing duty to ensure equipment remains in good working order and that employees know how to adjust it correctly for their own needs.

How an Ergonomics Assessment Works

For businesses unsure whether their office meets current ergonomic standards, a structured ergonomics assessment is a practical way to identify gaps. A typical assessment includes:

Walkthrough and observation — reviewing the overall office layout, lighting, temperature, and noise conditions
Individual workstation checks — assessing desk and chair adjustability, screen positioning, and equipment placement for representative employees
Environmental measurements — where relevant, checking lighting levels, temperature, and air quality against recommended ranges
Recommendations — a report outlining any issues found and practical steps to address them, prioritized by urgency

Assessments can be carried out internally by trained staff for smaller offices, or by an external workplace health and safety specialist for a more thorough, independent review — particularly useful when planning an office move, renovation, or larger furniture purchase.

Practical Steps to Improve Workspace Ergonomics in Your Office

Employers don’t need to overhaul their entire office at once. Practical, incremental steps include:

Auditing current furniture and identifying desks or chairs that lack basic adjustability
Providing height-adjustable desks or sit-stand options, at least for employees with long periods of screen work
Reviewing lighting levels and reducing glare on screens, for example by repositioning monitors relative to windows
Checking ventilation and temperature control, especially in densely occupied rooms or spaces with large amounts of equipment
Training employees on how to adjust their own workstations correctly, since even well-designed furniture doesn’t help if it’s left in a poor position
Building ergonomics checks into onboarding and periodic workplace reviews, so new hires and existing staff are covered

How Tanance Can Help

At Tanance, we support businesses in Zurich and across Switzerland with building maintenance and workplace services that help create a healthier, more comfortable office environment. Our services include:

Regular office cleaning and hygiene services
Building maintenance cleaning
Workplace hygiene services
Customized maintenance schedules for companies

Conclusion

Workspace ergonomics in Switzerland is grounded in real legal obligations under the Labour Act, ArGV 3, and SECO guidance — not just best practice. For employers, meeting these requirements means paying attention to desk and chair adjustability, screen positioning, lighting, temperature, and air quality, and revisiting these factors periodically as teams and office layouts change. Taking a structured, ongoing approach to workspace ergonomics supports both legal compliance and a healthier, more productive workplace for employees.