The origins and evolution of the Personne de Confiance (PCE)
If you’ve worked in HR in Switzerland for any length of time, you are probably familiar with the term PCE.
For many international professionals, however, the term Personne de Confiance en Entreprise, or PCE, takes some explaining. Is it an ombudsperson? A mediator? An extension of HR? None of these descriptions quite fits.
So what is a PCE, and what do they actually do?
The two principal Swiss PCE associations define the role in very similar terms: the CSPCE describes its primary mission as “l’écoute et l’orientation” — listening and guidance — while the ASPCE describes three core functions, “écouter, accompagner, orienter” — listening, supporting and guiding — to help employees clarify their situation, needs and possible ways forward.
An employee experiencing conflict, discrimination, harassment or another difficulty impacting their work can speak confidentially with an independent, impartial person outside their reporting structure, clarify their situation and explore possible ways forward.
In today’s language, the PCE can therefore be seen as an important tool in the workplace wellbeing toolkit: a confidential space that supports psychological safety by allowing people to talk, ask questions and explore options before deciding whether anything formal needs to happen at all.
A more inclusive concept of health at work
More than 30 years ago — long before “psychological safety” became part of today’s workplace vocabulary — an important shift began in how Swiss organisations conceived of health at work.
In 1993, Switzerland’s Ordinance 3 to the Labour Act (OLT 3) established an important principle: employers have a responsibility to take the measures necessary to protect not only the physical health of their employees, but their psychological health as well.
Workplace health was not just about preventing accidents or providing a physically safe working environment. Conflict, harassment, discrimination and other psychosocial risks could also affect people’s health, and employers needed ways of preventing and addressing them. SECO today defines psychosocial risks in terms of negative psychological, physical and social consequences resulting from unfavourable work organisation and a degraded social context at work.
In 1994, the Federal Council explicitly referred to the idea of a “personne de confiance” in the context of preventing and responding to sexual harassment.
Over time, guidance from SECO, Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, developed this concept further. Among its recommended measures was the designation of an internal or external person whom employees could approach in the event of workplace conflict for advice and support. Critically, this person should be appropriately trained, maintain confidentiality and have no hierarchical relationship with the employee seeking help.
Those principles remain at the core of the PCE function today, as the role continues to develop and professionalise in Switzerland.
Is the PCE uniquely Swiss?
The PCE isn’t unique to Switzerland. Other countries have developed their own answers to the same fundamental workplace need.
Belgium has perhaps the closest parallel, also known as a personne de confiance, within its framework for managing psychosocial risks at work. France has a different and narrower mechanism: larger employers must appoint a référent for sexual harassment and sexist behaviour. In the United States, the organizational ombuds found in some companies, universities and public institutions shares many of the PCE’s underlying principles: confidentiality, impartiality and independence.
But while the PCE is not a uniquely Swiss invention, Switzerland has spent more than three decades developing its own approach to a universal workplace question:
Where can someone turn when something at work isn’t right, but they aren’t ready — or don’t want — to make a formal complaint?
From workplace safeguard to good governance
More than 30 years after the personne de confiance first appeared in Swiss federal discussions, Switzerland continues to develop and professionalise the concept. Today, professional associations, certification programmes and formal codes of ethics are helping to establish common standards for the PCE role.
And this continuing professionalisation reflects an important evolution. Good workplace governance increasingly means more than responding appropriately when a serious problem occurs. It means creating conditions in which people feel psychologically safe enough to raise concerns and seek help early.
A PCE therefore shouldn’t be something that exists on paper simply to satisfy a compliance requirement. Employees need to know the service exists, understand what it is for and, crucially, trust that they can use it confidentially.
The real value lies in giving people somewhere genuinely independent and confidential to turn — potentially before a difficult situation becomes a formal grievance, prolonged absence, breakdown in a working relationship or legal dispute.
What began as a workplace safeguard is increasingly part of the accepted infrastructure of a healthy, psychologically safe and well-governed workplace.
TrustLine PCE Partners provides independent, confidential PCE support in English to organisations and their employees across Suisse Romande.
Sources & further reading
Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) — Psychosocial risks at work
Official Swiss information on psychosocial risks, their effects on health and employers’ responsibilities for prevention.
SECO: Risques psychosociaux au travail
Swiss Chamber of Persons of Trust (CSPCE) — Code of Ethics
Defines the CSPCE’s PCE mission, including listening and guidance, confidentiality, impartiality and helping individuals clarify their needs and options.
CSPCE: Code de déontologie
Swiss Association of Persons of Trust in Companies (ASPCE) — Professional role and Code of Ethics
Describes the PCE’s core missions as écouter, accompagner et orienter and outlines the association’s professional standards, training and supervision.
ASPCE: À propos de l’ASPCE
Marc Rosset — Personne de confiance en Entreprise – État des lieux (2020)
A useful overview of the historical development of the PCE in Switzerland, including the 1993–94 origins and subsequent evolution of the function.
Belgian Federal Public Service Employment — Personne de confiance
Official explanation of Belgium’s personne de confiance and its role within the country’s framework for managing psychosocial risks at work.
Belgian FPS Employment: Personne de confiance
French Ministry of Labour — Sexual harassment and sexist behaviour at work
Official guidance on France’s référents for sexual harassment and sexist behaviour, including the additional employer-appointed referent required in companies with at least 250 employees.
French Ministry of Labour: Harcèlement sexuel et agissements sexistes au travail
International Ombuds Association — Standards and professional principles
Background on the core principles of the organizational ombuds role, including confidentiality, impartiality, independence and informality.
International Ombuds Association