Are Swiss Employee Mobile Plans Worth It?

Unlike company phones, employee mobile plans are normally a direct contract between you and the telecom company, and you are billed directly. You also use your own phone.

Employee mobile plans are frequently offered to employees of very large companies, in particular. Employees benefit from special deals: Typically, employers negotiate prices with telecom companies like Salt, Sunrise, or Swisscom. In many cases, employers let you as their employee get these plans for your relatives as well.

Do not let yourself get lured by discounts

The price-tags of these plans often look very cheap at first glance. But stop to take a closer look: Often, these plans include very little data for getting online in Switzerland. While it is generally possible to get additional data bundles if you need to, having to buy extra data pushes up your overall phone bill.

Also pay attention to prices for mobile roaming outside of Switzerland. You may pay less for roaming with other mobile plans.

Regular offers for the general public are often cheaper

Swiss telecom service providers regularly offer heavily discounted plans as part of special promotions. Budget brands like Wingo, and Yallo in particular constantly run promotional offers. In many cases, these freely-available promotional offers are a better deal than employee mobile plans. Even offers at standard prices are often cheaper than employee mobile plans.

Direct billing

Even when an employee plan is managed by your employer, it is common for phone bills to be sent to you directly by the telecom company. There are rare cases in which billing is done through employers, with your bill being deducted from your salary. Some employee mobile plan offers require that bills be charged directly to your bank account. If the billing method is important to you, make sure to get informed about the payment options available for your company’s employee mobile plans.   

Disadvantages of employee mobile plans

Many employee mobile plans come with a number of big disadvantages. Assuming you want to use your existing number with the plan, your phone number will be transferred to your employer. It then no longer belongs to you, but to your employer. So you phone number changes hands. This process makes migrating to employee mobile plans somewhat tedious.

If you have questions or issues with your mobile plan, you may have to work these out through your employer. You often cannot request changes to your mobile plan from the telecom company directly. This is another factor which makes employee mobile plans less convenient than regular plans.

In many cases, when you leave your employer, you have to transfer the number again, as the contract for your employee plan is signed by your employer on your behalf. A particularly unfavorable scenario is if you leave your employer but remain bound to your mobile plan contract, because you have to keep paying for the contract but you lose the employee discount. Make sure to only get plans which do not have minimum contract terms.

Galaxus is an exception

Major Swiss online retailer Digitec Galaxus lets employers offer its Galaxus Mobile mobile plan to employees at a discounted price. This employee offer differs from classic employee plans because contracts are between Galaxus and employees. Your number belongs to you, not to your employer. You can contact Galaxus directly and make changes to your plan without having to involve your employer.

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