18. Employee benefits

	December 31, 2017			December 31, 2016		December 31, 2015
Salaries		3,761,171			3,662,180		2,833,741
Pension costs		378,588			342,805		282,517
Other social benefits		277,468			301,537		191,079
Share based payments costs		354,851			290,783		311,671
Recruitment costs		125,731			391,035		—
Other personnel expenditures		(26,439	)		40,827		24,557
Total employee benefits		4,871,370			5,029,167		3,643,565

Benefit plans

The Company participates in a retirement plan (the “Plan”) organized as an independent collective foundation, that covers all of its employees in Switzerland, including management. The collective foundation is governed by a foundation board. The board is made up of an equal number of employee and employer representatives of the affiliated companies. The Company has no direct influence on the investment strategy of the collective foundation. Moreover, certain elements of the employee benefits are defined in the same way for all affiliated companies. This is mainly related to the annuity factors at retirement and to interest allocated on retirement savings. The employer itself cannot determine the benefits or how they are financed directly. The foundation board of the collective foundation is responsible for the determination of the investment strategy, for making changes to the pension fund regulations and in particular, also for defining the financing of the pension benefits.

The old age benefits are based on retirement savings for each employee, coupled with annual retirement credits and interest (there is no possibility to credit negative interest). At retirement age, the insured members can choose whether to take a pension for life, which includes a spouse’s pension, or a lump sum. In addition to retirement benefits, the plan benefits also include disability and death benefits. Insured members may also buy into the scheme to improve their pension provision up to the maximum amount permitted under the rules of the plan and may withdraw funds early for the purchase of a residential property for their own use subject to limitations under Swiss law. On leaving the Company, retirement savings are transferred to the pension institution of the new employer or to a vested benefits institution. This type of benefit may result in pension payments varying considerably between individual years. In defining the benefits, the minimum requirements of the Swiss Law on Occupational Retirement, Survivors and Disability Pension Plans (BVG) and its implementing provisions must be observed. The BVG defines the minimum pensionable salary and the minimum retirement credits. In Switzerland, the minimum interest rate applicable to these minimum retirement savings is set by the Swiss Federal Council at least once every two years. The rate was 1.75% in 2015, 1.25% in 2016 and 1.00% in 2017.

The assets are invested by the collective foundation in a diversified portfolio that respects the requirements of the Swiss BVG. Under the Plan, both the Company and the employee share the costs equally. The structure of the plan and the legal provisions of the BVG mean that the employer is exposed to actuarial risks. The main risks are investment risk, interest risk, disability risk and the risk of longevity. Through the affiliation to a collective foundation, the Company has minimized these risks, since they are shared between a much greater number of participants.

The following tables present information about the net defined benefit liability and its components:

Change in defined benefit obligation

	2017			2016
Defined benefit obligation at January 1		7,122,841			5,427,776
Service costs		348,172			319,173
Plan participants’ contribution		236,074			218,275
Interest cost		50,494			62,916
Actuarial losses		60,781			417,937
Transfer-out amounts		(440,950	)		(1,276,315	)
Transfer-in amounts of new employees		622,205			1,953,079
Defined benefit obligation at December 31		7,999,617			7,122,841

The defined benefit obligation includes only liabilities for active employees. The weighted average modified duration of the defined benefit obligation at December 31, 2017 is 20.9 years (2016: 21.7 years).

Change in fair value of plan assets

	2017			2016
Fair value of plan assets at January 1		5,030,407			3,851,943
Interest income		37,500			47,994
Return on plan assets excluding interest income		332,759			23,835
Employer contributions		236,074			220,306
Plan participants’ contributions		236,074			218,275
Transfer-out amounts		(440,950	)		(1,276,315	)
Transfer-in amounts of new employees		622,205			1,953,079
Administration expense		(17,422	)		(8,710	)
Fair value of plan assets at December 31		6,036,647			5,030,407

Net defined benefit liability recognized in the statement of financial position

	December 31, 2017			December 31, 2016
Present value of funded defined benefit obligation		7,999,617			7,122,841
Fair value of plan assets		(6,036,647	)		(5,030,407	)
Net defined benefit liability		1,962,970			2,092,434

Defined Benefit Cost

	2017		2016		2015
Service cost		348,172		319,173		261,778
Net interest expense		12,994		14,922		14,873
Administration expense		17,422		8,710		5,866
Total defined costs for the year recognized in profit or loss		378,588		342,805		282,517

Remeasurement of the Defined Benefit Liability

	2017			2016			2015
Actuarial loss (gain) arising from changes in financial assumption		(150,552	)		412,396			(167,623	)
Actuarial loss arising from experience adjustments		211,331			264,417			175,375
Actuarial gain arising from demographic assumptions		—			(258,876	)		—
Return on plan assets excluding interest income		(332,759	)		(23,835	)		46,164
Total defined benefit cost for the year recognized in the other comprehensive loss		(271,980	)		394,102			53,916

Assumptions

	2017			2016			2015
At December 31
Discount rate		0.80	%		0.70	%		1.10	%
Future salary increase		1.10	%		1.10	%		1.10	%
Pension indexation		0.00	%		0.00	%		0.00	%
Mortality and disability rates		BVG2015G			BVG2015G			BVG 2010G

Sensitivity analysis

Reasonably possible changes at the reporting date to one of the relevant actuarial assumptions, holding other assumptions constant, would have affected the defined benefit obligation by the amounts shown below.

	December 31,
	2017			2016
Change in assumption		0.25 % increase			0.25 % increase
Discount rate		(354,477	)		(324,057	)
Salary increase		49,707			42,181
Pension indexation		189,965			201,221
Change in assumption		+ 1 year			+ 1 year
Life expectancy		182,977			167,161