Billed via expenses What are Albert Rösti's civil servants doing in a wellness hotel?

The federal government has to save money. Nevertheless, executives from the Federal Roads Office (Astra) held their workshops in wellness hotels. According to "SonntagsBlick", this is against internal regulations.

Did managers at the Federal Roads Office (Astra) violate the regulations? According to "SonntagsBlick", internal documents are available that document the trips by Albert Rösti's officials.

The head of internal auditing at Astra and her deputy are said to have spent three nights in a 4-star hotel in Leukerbad VS at the end of August 2024 for an online seminar. They settled the costs of CHF 1190 via expenses.

The workshop could also have taken place in the offices in Bern or in the home office, but the choice fell on a wellness hotel in Valais.

A week later, the same thing happened, this time in Thun. The two women took three other managers with them. The two-day workshop cost a total of 1536 francs for seminar rooms and business lunches, in addition to the accommodation costs of 275 francs per person. A boat trip and a visit to the Beatus Caves added a further 200 francs to the expenses.

Retreat "promoted and strengthened" cooperation

However, the withdrawal "promoted and strengthened" cooperation, says Astra spokesperson Thomas Rohrbach. However, according to "SonntagsBlick", hotel accommodation in Thun violates the Astra regulations. These regulations stipulate the following for business trips in Switzerland: "For overnight stays away from home with breakfast, the actual expenses will be reimbursed within the framework of mid-range accommodation." The maximum amount is CHF 250 per overnight stay.

The expenses contradict the federal government's cost-cutting measures announced by Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter a year ago. The Federal Council has put together an austerity package that affects many areas, including education and asylum.

The editor wrote this article with the help of AI.