OPINION | Public agencies need to trust frontline judgment before useful procedures harden into perverse social norms.
Jean-Daniel Taverney believed that delivering a parcel sometimes meant carrying it upstairs to an apartment door. He said he took parcels upstairs to prevent theft, providing a service particularly valuable to older people and those with limited mobility.
Swiss Post, however, regarded his conduct as repeated breaches of internal instructions; he had already received two warnings. After almost 42 years with Swiss Post, the company dismissed him in February 2026, and his employment ended in May.
The instruction was more specific than a blanket ban on helpfulness.