Key legal question
Whether the 41-hour weekly schedule was validly agreed under the collective agreement
Extracted holding
No. A longer weekly working time could not be validly fixed beyond 24 months without following the GAV procedure and involving the contracting parties through Swissmem.
Extracted reasoning
Article 57.4 GAV is the special rule for deviations from the annual normal working time. The employer and the employee representation could agree autonomously only for up to 24 months; beyond that, notice to Swissmem and consent of the participating contracting parties were required. Article 10.2 GAV did not dispense with this special procedure.