Switzerland: Appointment Alert!

From ExecutivePlanet.com

Making appointments

Meetings are always by appointment.

The Swiss are perhaps the most punctual people on earth. You should arrive for any engagement at precisely the appointed time, not early--your counterpart may be unprepared--and certainly not late. This is especially true in the German-speaking areas, where arriving even five minutes late for a business meeting or a formal social engagement can cause offence. Although French--and Italian--speaking areas tend to be slightly more relaxed about time, punctuality is always the best policy.

Should you be invited to an informal social event at a Swiss home, however, you should aim to arrive 15 minutes after the given time in the German areas and up to 30 minutes late in the French and Italian-speaking areas.

You must be well presented and remain polite at all times.

Office-hours are generally 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday to Friday with a one or two hour lunch break between noon and 2:00 p.m.

Most shops in the larger towns and cities are usually open 9:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday to Friday [some until 8:00 p.m.] and 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturdays. Some establishments are closed on Saturday or close at noon and, in rural towns and villages, shops may not open on Monday mornings or Wednesday afternoons and may also close for lunch.

You should avoid scheduling important appointments for July and August when most Swiss take their annual vacation.

Also, because of the variations in ethnic background, you will find that besides the national holidays different cantons observe different festivals; for example, Holy Week is particularly important in the Catholic south and Fasching [the German version of Carnival] may catch out the unwary visitor in the days before Lent.

August 1 is Swiss National Day, celebrating the foundation of the Swiss Confederation in 1291, and a public holiday.

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