In Switzerland, the loss of a job confers, subject to certain conditions, a right to daily allowances intended to compensate for the loss of earnings.
To assert this right, the insured person must take a series of steps with the employment services and with the unemployment fund of his choice.
Registration with the employment service and choice of fund
The first essential step is to register for placement as soon as possible, and at the latest on the first day for which benefits are claimed.
This initial step is a condition for the right to benefits to be established:
- Registration with the public employment service: The jobseeker must register with his regional employment centre, or online, show that he is fit for placement, prove that he is domiciled in Switzerland, and comply without delay with the control requirements and with his job-search obligations.
- Choice of unemployment fund: The insured person freely chooses the public or private fund that will examine the file and pay the allowances; the choice is made at the latest at the first counselling interview, and no change of fund is then permitted throughout the framework period for drawing benefits, except under a strict exception.
Preparing the file and the time limits to be observed
For the daily allowance actually to be paid, the file must be complete and submitted within the time limits laid down by law:
- Documents to be provided: The insured person must send the chosen fund the official unemployment benefit application form, the personal particulars questionnaire, and the employment certificates duly completed by his employers for the last two contribution years.
- Strict observance of the time limits: The steps must be taken without delay, because the right to the allowance for a given control period lapses if it is not exercised within three months of the end of that period, while unclaimed allowances lapse after three years.
The benefit is paid after the employment relationship has ended, once the notice period has expired. The work certificate is among the documents useful for the file.
Legal sources
Federal legislation:
- Art. 8 UIA (general conditions for entitlement to unemployment benefit)
- Art. 20 UIA (free choice of fund, employer’s certificate and three-month extinction period)
- Art. 28 UIO (rules on choosing the unemployment fund and the prohibition on changing fund)
- Art. 29 UIO (documents required to assert the right to the benefit)
Federal case law:
- Federal Supreme Court judgment 8C_26/2011 (the placement office’s duty to inform and advise on the steps to be taken and the conditions of entitlement to the benefit)
- BGE 109 V 52 (starting point for calculating the contribution periods, from the first formal claim and the first day subject to control)