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WORKING IN SWITZERLAND

How long can a foreigner stay in Switzerland after losing a job?

If you're employed in Switzerland but lose your job, can you remain in the country while looking for new work? The answer depends on several factors.

Published: 3 April 2023 14:31 CEST
Updated: 21 September 2023 16:29 CEST
How long can a foreigner stay in Switzerland after losing a job?
Depending in your nationality, you may have to leave the country after job loss. Image by Rudy and Peter Skitterians from Pixabay

Becoming unemployed is a huge stress for anyone, but it could be even more of a challenge for foreign nationals.

First things first: as The Local recently reported, foreigners who had been working in Switzerland for at least 12 months in the last two years and have been living in the country full time during that period, have the right to collect unemployment benefits:

Which foreign workers are entitled to unemployment benefits in Switzerland?

But how long can you remain in the country after losing your job?

This depends on the kind of permit and passport you have.

If you are a foreigner (of any nationality) who lives in Switzerland with a valid C permit, you are subject to the same rules as Swiss citizens who are looking for employment — which means you can stay here indefinitely, as long as you don’t leave the country in the meantime for more than six months.
 
If you do leave for an extended period of time without ‘freezing’ your C permit first (see below), you will lose your residency rights and won’t be able to remain in the country indefinitely while looking for a new job.

READ ALSO: How long can I stay out of Switzerland and keep my residency rights? 

More restrictions apply to other permit holders.

If you have a B residency permit and are a national of an EU / EFTA state, you may stay in Switzerland for at least six months to seek new employment, according to State Secretariat for Migration.  

However, you will have to apply for a permit as a job-seeker with the cantonal migration authorities while you are looking for a new position. 

What about non-EU nationals?

Unless they have received a C permit and permanent residency status, foreigners from outside the EU / EFTA face stricter rules if they lose their Swiss jobs.

Third-country nationals face more restrictions because their work permits (B or L) are tied to their job, so becoming unemployed would automatically mean losing a permit as well.

Given that work permits for third-country nationals are subject to strict criteria and quota system, finding an employer willing to hire you at short notice would be very difficult  — unless you have some specific skills that are in high demand and that can’t be found among the Swiss or EU / EFTA workforce.

If that is your case, your only option is to return to your country of origin and start the job-seeking process from scratch.

READ ALSO: What are your chances of getting a job in Switzerland from abroad?

This also concerns UK citizens: while those who received their permits and started working in Switzerland before January 1st, 2021 fall under the same rules as their EU counterparts, any post-Brexit job-seekers from Britain must follow the same steps as third-country nationals. 

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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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