Illness or accident, none of us are immune to these kinds of events! Regardless of all the inconvenience this may represent, healing can be delicate and time-consuming. During this recovery you may not be able to work and, therefore, what about your salary? What are your employer’s obligations in terms of salary maintenance? What are your rights as a freelancer?
Injury and illness should not be confused, we explain the differences in care.
Employee: What are your employer’s obligations?
Reminder on insurance obligations
Your employer has certain obligations in terms of social protection, in particular through the 1st pillar (AVS-AI), but also the 2nd pillar (LPP-LAA). Recall that theMembership of the AHV is mandatory for all active people from January 1st following their 17th birthday. Inactive people residing in Switzerland will also have to pay AVS-AI-APG contributions from January 1st following their 20th birthday.
Employees whose annualized income is greater than CHF 21.510.- are subject to the BVG (Federal Act on Occupational Pensions, Survivors and Disability). Contributions must be paid:
- from 1 January following the completion of the 17th year due to risk of death and disability,
- from 1 January of their 25th year for old-age risk (savings).
All employees working in Switzerland are compulsorily insured under the UVG. Employees who do more than 8 hours per week with the same employer they are covered for AP (Occupational Accidents), ANP (Non-Occupational Accidents) and MP (Occupational Diseases) risks. Employees who work less than 8 hours per week with their employer are covered by the UVG only for AP and MP risks. For ANP, they must register for the accident with their KVG.
You can find a lot of information on our page: Pension insurance – AHV, 2nd and 3rd pillar
Sick leave: are you covered?
The law obliges Swiss employees and residents to do so take out at least basic health insurance. The KVG bears the actual medical costs. However, during some illnesses, the worker is unable to do the work for which he is paid. So how is this financial loss treated? Does your employer have an obligation to compensate for this loss with this gain? The answer is theoretically no, the law obliges employers to pay part of the salary only for a very limited period.
Article 324 bis of the Code of Obligations 1 provides: “If the worker is prevented from working without fault on his part for reasons inherent to his person, such as illness, accident, fulfillment of a legal obligation or public function, the employer pays him the remuneration for a limited time, including fair compensation for the loss of remuneration in kind, to the extent the duration of the employment relationship is more than three months or has been concluded for more than three months..
To find out this duration, which differs according to seniority, please refer to art Stairs Bern, Basel and Zurich. Therefore, the duration of the compensation also varies depending on the canton. In French-speaking Switzerland, reference should be made toBernese scale which provides for example that during the first year the duration of the allowance is 3 weeks or that during the 5th year of service this duration is increased to 3 months.
In conclusion, the employer has no legal obligation to do so take out health insurance for loss of earnings under a collective agreement. Please note, however, that some CCTs may require you to take out daily allowance insurance in the event of illness.
Loss of Earnings Health Insurance
This insurance allows employees to do this continuity of payment of one’s income during the period of inability to work. For ethical but also economic reasons, all companies should take out health insurance for loss of earnings for its employees. The sickness insurance for loss of earnings can be subscribed with a collective agreement, in fact, all the employees of the company benefit from this agreement. From an economic point of view, this insurance allows the employer not to cover the loss of earnings of the absent worker. This salary increase may allow him to hire an employee to replace the absent employee. The employer can be exempted from paying the salary from the first due date if he bears at least 50% of the contribution from the sickness insurance for loss of earnings.
For more information on your income loss coverage, please feel free to contact one of our advisors. This appointment can allow you to take stock of your professional and private insurance.