The Closing Statement in a Swiss Work Certificate: Thanks, Regret and Good Wishes

Many HR professionals read a work certificate backwards. The last paragraph shows who ended the employment, whether the employer regrets the departure and how warmly it says goodbye. If this closing doesn't fit the rest, readers notice straight away.

What belongs in the closing statement

A complete closing statement (Schlussformel) has four parts: the reason for leaving, thanks for the work, regret about the departure and good wishes for the future. The better the assessment in the certificate, the more complete and warmer the closing should be.

In principle, the certificate gives the reason for leaving only if the employee wants it to. When the employee has resigned, a short sentence like "is leaving us at her own request" is almost always in everyone's interest. Without it, readers quickly assume the employer gave notice.

Whether thanks and good wishes can be enforced legally is disputed. In practice they're so much part of a certificate that one without them reads as cool or even hostile.

Examples for different situations

The examples below are in English as you'd translate them in a Swiss certificate. The original certificate will usually be in German, French or Italian.

The employee resigns, very good performance:

Ms Huber is leaving us at her own request to take on a new challenge. We very much regret her decision, thank her for her excellent work and wish her all the best for the future, professionally and personally.

The employee resigns, good performance:

Mr Rossi is leaving us at his own request. We thank him for his commitment and the good cooperation and wish him continued success.

Dismissal for economic reasons:

Due to the closure of our Basel site, we unfortunately had to end our employment relationship with Ms Weber. In her we are losing a highly valued employee. We thank her for her valuable work and wish her all the best for the future.

When the employer ends the employment for operational reasons, state the reason openly and make the appreciation clear. Otherwise readers think the parting had to do with the person.

End of a fixed-term contract:

The fixed-term employment ends with the completion of the project. We thank Mr Kunz for his great commitment and wish him every success in his professional future.

Retirement:

Ms Gerber is retiring after 28 years with our company. We thank her warmly for her many years of loyalty and her great work and wish her all the best for this new stage of life.

What readers notice in the closing

If regret is missing from an otherwise very good assessment, it looks like a contradiction. Readers then assume the employer wasn't unhappy to see the person go. The same applies to missing thanks, or to wishes that refer only to private life.

Vague phrases such as "we have parted ways" or "the employment relationship was terminated" leave open who gave notice and why. For the employee, that's usually worse than a clear sentence.

If an employee resigned to pre-empt a dismissal, the certificate still says she's leaving at her own request. That's formally correct, and further circumstances don't belong in the certificate.

In an interim certificate

An interim certificate (Zwischenzeugnis) has no farewell. Instead, the closing names the occasion, such as a change of line manager, and states that the company looks forward to continuing the working relationship. There's more on this in Interim Work Certificate in Switzerland.

A fitting closing statement with ZeugnyAI

ZeugnyAI words the closing to match your overall assessment and the reason for leaving you enter. Thanks, regret and good wishes then come with the strength that fits the rest of the certificate.

Write a work certificate with ZeugnyAI →

How gradations and gaps are read is explained in Swiss Work Certificate Codes.

General information, not legal advice for individual cases.