In Switzerland, protection against the consequences of an accident is organised strictly by federal social-insurance law.
The general principle rests on each person’s occupational status: employees are subject to compulsory accident-insurance cover arranged by their employer, while the other categories of the population come under the general health-insurance scheme.
Persons compulsorily subject to accident insurance
The legislation imposes an insurance obligation on every person carrying on employed work in Switzerland, whatever the sector or the level of pay:
- Employed workers and persons treated as such: All workers engaged in Switzerland are compulsorily insured, whether full-time or part-time, as are apprentices, trainees, volunteers, home workers and domestic staff.
- Recipients of social-insurance benefits: Compulsory insurance also extends to jobseekers compensated by unemployment insurance and to persons taking part in certain occupational rehabilitation measures provided by invalidity insurance.
The extent of the cover and the position of persons who are not employees
The content of the compulsory cover depends mainly on the number of hours the employee works each week:
- Occupational and non-occupational accidents: Every employee is compulsorily insured against occupational accidents and occupational diseases (premiums paid by the employer); if their working time reaches at least 8 hours a week with the same employer, they are also covered automatically against non-occupational accidents in private life (premiums borne by the employee). Persons working fewer than 8 hours a week are insured only for occupational accidents and for accidents occurring on the way to work.
- Self-employed persons and persons without gainful activity: Persons carrying on a self-employed activity are not subject to compulsory insurance, but may take out voluntary insurance; as for persons without gainful activity (students, children, pensioners), the accident risk must be included in their contract of compulsory basic health insurance.
For employees, this cover is distinct from continued payment of salary in the event of illness, governed by Article 324a CO.
Legal sources
Federal legislation:
- Art. 1a AIA (circle of persons insured on a compulsory basis)
- Art. 91 UVG (allocation of premium payment obligations between employer and employee)
- Art. 8 HIA (suspension or inclusion of accident risk in health insurance)
- Art. 4 para. 1 UVG (cited in Federal Supreme Court judgment 8C_485/2023) (option for voluntary insurance for the self-employed)
- Art. 7 UVG (cited in Federal Supreme Court judgment 8C_485/2023; Federal Supreme Court judgment U_265/03) (definition of an occupational accident)
- Art. 8 UVG (cited in Federal Supreme Court judgment 8C_485/2023; Federal Supreme Court judgment U_265/03) (definition of a non-occupational accident, and commuting accidents for part-time employees)
Federal case law:
- Federal Supreme Court judgment 8C_485/2023 (distinction between the status of an employee subject to compulsory insurance, coverage for occupational and non-occupational accidents, and voluntary insurance for the self-employed)
- BGE 137 V 193 (scope of compulsory insurance reserved for employed workers, as opposed to voluntary insurance for the self-employed)