Refusal to grant non-unionized workers a direct civil right against their employer under an equal treatment clause in a collective labour agreement

Facts

Company [L. AG] hired [D.] as a qualified sales assistant in Geneva starting on 1 December 1986. The employment contract provided for participation in health insurance "according to the collective agreement". After termination of the contract, [D.] sued [L. AG] for unpaid wages, arguing that the applicable collective agreement provided for a minimum wage higher than what she had received.

Considerations

The DFC upholds its established case law in the Stähli judgment of 1955, according to which an equal treatment clause in a collective labour agreement does not confer any direct civil right on non-unionized workers against their employer. The employer is only liable to the parties to the collective agreement in case of a violation of such a clause.

The DFC rejects the plaintiff's arguments to overturn this case law, in particular the economic and social developments, the cited doctrinal opinion, as well as the alleged incorporation of the collective agreement into the individual…