Zug authorities scrutinise local barbershops

Working together to combat abuse: the Zug authorities report positive results following an inspection intended to combat illegal employment in the canton of Zug.

For the first time, a number of authorities carried out a major joint inspection of barbershops in the canton of Zug. The aim was to uncover illegal employment and other violations of the law.

A total of eleven barbershops with around 20 employees were inspected on 7^th May as part of an one-day inspection. The authorities involved included the Zug Police, the Office for Economy and Labour, the Tax Administration, the Zug Compensation Office (Ausgleichskasse Zug), the Office for Consumer Protection and Faircontrol, which acts on behalf of the Paritätische Kommission Coiffure Schweiz (Swiss Hairdressing Commission).

The inspectors found no serious violations in eleven barbershops in the canton of Zug.       Symbolic photo: Andrea Tina Stalder

The preliminary results are positive. The special operation did not reveal any serious violations, and is therefore considered to have been a success, according to the Department of Economic Affairs. The only issue was with the labels on some hair care products, which were not written in a national language – and this is a violation of the consumer protection regulations. It remains to be seen whether further evaluation will reveal any other irregularities.

The inspections focused on compliance with regulations in the areas of labour law, social security, taxes and health protection. According to Bernhard Neidhart, head of the Office for Economy and Labour of the Canton of Zug, this campaign was the first time that an expanded control system had been tested in a joint effort: ‘The participating agencies carried out comprehensive on-site inspections together. The aim was to enable a more effective and targeted approach to combating illegal employment and abuse.’

Despite the personnel costs involved, the authorities see potential in the new inspection approach. ‘The experience gained from this campaign shows that coordinated operations allow for more targeted enforcement,’ says Bernhard Neidhart. It’s conceivable that such joint inspections will be repeated in future in cases of reasonable suspicion – even if they are more resource-intensive than individual inspections.