Worker participation - Switzerland

The involvement of workers in management decision making processes is known as ‘worker participation’. This goes beyond workers being involved for consultative or informational process, but rather gives them authority to make decisions. This can take the form of either direct or indirect participation. The former refers to individual involvement, whilst in the latter representatives of the individual are involved in the decision making process. This article focuses on informational and consultation process that workers are involved in during the management process. This will be examined on three levels: cross-industry, sectoral and company levels. It describes both direct and indirect participation forms with a focus on formal participation structures. An overview of methods of worker participation can be found in Methods and effects of worker participation and Occupational safety and health management systems and workers’ participation