Facts
The appellant X. was employed as a senior physician at the University Hospital Zurich (USZ) until 31 May 2009. In 2007 and 2008, he worked 2002 hours of overtime, for which he would be entitled to an overtime wage of CHF 131,957.-. During the same period, however, X. received compensation of CHF 157,785.- from fee pools. The USZ offset these pool funds against the overtime pay. X. filed a recourse against this. The Hospital Board and the Administrative Court dismissed the recourse. X. then filed a public law appeal with the Federal Supreme Court.Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court partially upholds the appeal. It holds that the cantonal provisions, according to which there is no entitlement to overtime compensation in the case of overtime, violate federal law. Art. 13 of the Employment Act (ArG) mandatorily provides that the employer must pay a wage supplement of at least 25% for overtime. Compensation of this claim by other compensation, such as the pool funds claimed here, is not permissible under federal law.
The Federal Supreme Court states that the principle of the primacy of federal law under Art. 49 para. 1 Cst. precludes…