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WORKING IN SWITZERLAND

Reader question: Does my Swiss employer have a right to fire me when I’m sick?

If you miss work due to illness, you might be worried about your rights at work. This is what Switzerland’s labour law says about being dismissed while on a sick leave.

Published: 14 February 2022 14:22 CET
Reader question: Does my Swiss employer have a right to fire me when I'm sick?
Getting sick in Switzerland may get you fired, but not immediately. Photo by cottonbro from Pexels

Being laid up with an illness is bad enough without having to worry about being let go from your job.

Generally speaking, workers in Switzerland are well protected through labour laws and collective agreements between employers and professional associations or trade unions, which set the terms and conditions of employment.

These categories are wide-ranging, including wages, holiday time, leaves of absence, as well as worker’s and employer’s rights during illness-related absences.

So what happens if you fall ill?

If you are absent for more than three days, you must present a medical certificate mentioning your diagnosis and how many days (or weeks or months) you will be absent from work.

During this time you will continue to receive your salary for a period of time based on the duration of your employment (see below) and whether your company has a sickness benefit insurance for employees.

In this case, you will continue to be paid for up to 730 days for illness that lasts over 900 days.

But while most employers in Switzerland have this insurance, some don’t. If you happen to work for the latter kind, you will continue to get your salary but for a very limited period: three weeks in the first year of employment, with increases for every additional year, up to a maximum of four months.

This period does, however, vary depending on the canton.

Does this mean you can’t be fired while sick?

No, your job is not going to be there waiting for you until you recover — you are protected from dismissal only for a limited period of time, depending on how long you have been employed at a company.

Your boss must keep you on for:

  •        30 days in the first year of work;
  •        90 days from the second to the fifth year of work; and
  •       180 days from the sixth year of work.

The only exception to this rule is if you get sick during the trial or probation period — usually between one or three months after you start a new job.

If that’s the case, the employer has the right to terminate your contract.

What if you fall ill after receiving or giving notice — in other words, you already know you will be leaving your job at a previously determined time?

If this happens, the notice period is postponed for the duration of your sick leave, and will resume once you are able to return to work.

More information about dismissal during sick leave can be found here.

The same rules apply if you are laid up after an accident — for the purposes of your employment, illness and post-accident recovery are the same.

Other absences

Situations might come up when you have to take time off for work for reasons other than sickness. Can you be fired?

In Switzerland, employees are allowed to take paid absence due to extreme or extraordinary situations other than sickness, including accidents, military service, marriage, and death of a close relative.

You can find out more about what absences are permitted under the law, including maternity and paternity leave here:

Everything you need to know about annual leave in Switzerland

And this is a useful guide about the employment laws all people working in Switzerland should know:

Getting fired in Switzerland: The employment laws you need to know about

Please keep in mind that this is a guide only and should not take the place of qualified legal advice. 
 

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For members

WORKING IN SWITZERLAND

The pitfalls of Switzerland’s social security system you need to avoid

In most cases, Switzerland’s social benefits system functions well. But there are also some loopholes you should know about.

Published: 24 April 2024 13:37 CEST
The pitfalls of Switzerland's social security system you need to avoid

The Swiss social security system has several branches: old-age, survivors’ and disability insurance; health and accident insurance; unemployment benefits, and family allowances.

This is a pretty comprehensive package, which covers everyone who pays into the scheme for a wide variety of ‘what ifs’.

As the government explains it, “people living and working in Switzerland benefit from a tightly woven network of social insurance schemes designed to safeguard them against risks that would otherwise overwhelm them financially.” 

But while most residents of Switzerland are able to benefit, at least to some extent, from this system, others don’t.

What is happening?

If someone becomes ill or has an accident, Switzerland’s compulsory health insurance and / or accident insurance will cover the costs.

However, a prolonged absence from work can become costly.

That is especially the case of people employed by companies that don’t have a collective labour agreement (CLA), a contract negotiated between Switzerland’s trade unions and employers or employer organisations that covers a wide range of workers’ rights. 

READ ALSO: What is a Swiss collective bargaining agreement — and how could it benefit you?

It is estimated that roughly half of Switzerland’s workforce of about 5 million people are not covered by a CLA.

If you just happen to work for a company without a CLA, your employer is not required to pay your salary if your illness is long.

You will receive money for a minimum of three weeks – longer, depending on seniority — but certainly not for the long-haul.

You may think that once your wages stop, the disability insurance (DI) will kick in.

But that’s not the case.

The reason is that DI can be paid only after a year after the wages stop. In practice, however, it sometimes takes several years of investigations and verifications to make sure the person is actually eligible to collect these benefits, rather than just pretending to be sick. 

In the meantime, these people have to use their savings to live on.

What about ‘daily allowance insurance’?

Many companies (especially those covered by a CLA) take out this insurance, so they can pay wages to their sick employees for longer periods of time.

However, this insurance is optional for employers without a CLA is place.

As a result, small companies forego it because it is too much of a financial burden for them.

And people who are self-employed face a problem in this area as well: insurance carriers can (and often do) refuse to cover people they deem to be ‘too risky’ in terms of their age or health status.

Critics are calling the two situations —the length of time it takes for the disability insurance to kick in and gaps in the daily allowance insurance—”perhaps the biggest failures of the social security system.”

Is anything being done to remedy this situation?

Given numerous complaints about the unfairness of the current system, the Social Security and Public Health Commission of the Council of States (CSSS-E) will look into the “consequences of shortcomings and numerous dysfunctions in long-term illness insurance.”

But not everyone in Switzerland sees a problem in the current situation.

According to the Swiss Insurance Association (SIA), for instance, “making daily sickness allowance insurance compulsory for employers would not have the desired effect. Due to false incentives, it would only exacerbate the upward trend in costs and premiums.”

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