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WORKING IN SWITZERLAND

If you are unemployed in Switzerland do you have to accept any job offer?

Being unemployed in Switzerland is not just about drawing benefits. You have some responsibilities to fulfil as well.

Published: 8 February 2024 10:22 CET
If you are unemployed in Switzerland do you have to accept any job offer?
You must actively search for a job. Image by Adrian from Pixabay

Although unemployment rate in Switzerland is very low — currently about 2.2 percent — and there is an acute labour shortage, some people can still lose their jobs for a variety of reasons.

If this happens to you, you are entitled to receive unemployment benefits, provided you have been legally working in Switzerland and contributing to the social insurance scheme — as everyone is obliged to do.

READ ALSO: What unemployment benefits are foreign workers in Switzerland entitled to?

However, if you think you can just sit home until your benefits run out, you are mistaken.

The unemployment office will expect you to actively participate in finding a new job — or accept the one they find for you.

This is what you should know

According to the Unemployment Insurance (UI) service portal, “as part of your duty to minimise the benefits paid out, you are obliged to make every reasonable effort to shorten your unemployment.”

This means that “you have to make targeted efforts to find a new job – if necessary. also outside your former profession.”

To prove that you are not sitting idly but are pro-active in your job search, you have to provide evidence to your local unemployment office each month that you are indeed looking for a job.

You can do this, for instance, by sending them copies of your job applications and any eventual responses you receive from prospective employers.

One rule you must comply with is that “you are obliged to accept a reasonable position of employment when offered.”

Yes, but how do you distinguish a ‘reasonable’ offer from an ‘unreasonable’ one?

You can relax on that score — you will not be forced to take on a job if it:

  • Does not match your usual working conditions
  • Does not take into consideration your skills and your previous line of work (this does not apply to persons under the age of 30)
  • Does not suit your personal circumstances (age, health, family)
  • Requires a daily commute of more than four hours
  • Hinders the reintegration into your own profession, assuming there is a chance of that happening within a reasonable amount of time
  • Provides you with an income which is less than 70 percent of your previous salary.

READ ALSO: How to write the perfect Swiss CV

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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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