Wage claim: validity of employment contract terms and statutory salary calculation in a BAG revision

The Federal Labour Court (BAG) reversed the lower courts’ decisions and dismissed the plaintiff’s claims in their entirety, awarding the defendant the costs of litigation. The dispute concerned a claim for unpaid wages, where the employee challenged the calculation of her salary; the lower labour and appellate courts had previously ruled in the employee’s favor. The BAG’s decisive legal analysis focused on the interpretation of the applicable employment contract terms and statutory wage calculation rules, determining that the plaintiff had failed to substantiate her entitlement to the additional compensation sought.