Most people working in Switzerland take it for granted that if they fall ill, they will continue to be paid. In most cases this is true, but not always, as the law does not guarantee it without limit. What Article 324a of the Swiss Code of Obligations stipulates is that the employer must continue to pay wages for a limited period, which depends on the number of years’ service: three weeks in the first year of the contract; from the second year onwards, a slightly longer period, according to the scale applicable in each canton. Once this period has elapsed, and provided there are no other provisions in the contract, the legal obligation ceases.
What protects most workers is that many companies take out daily sickness benefit insurance, known in French as IJM (Indemnité Journalière Maladie) and in German as Krankentaggeldversicherung. Where this cover is in place, it usually pays 80 per cent of your salary for up to 720 days if you are off work due to illness. Many sectoral collective agreements (CCT) make this insurance compulsory for employers: if you work in construction, the hospitality sector, retail, cleaning or transport, your employer is most likely obliged to provide it. In other sectors, it depends on your individual contract or the company’s internal policy.
The problem arises when someone goes on long-term sick leave; the first few months pass without incident, and at some point they discover that the company did not have that insurance, or that their individual contract did not include it. It may well be perfectly legal, but the consequences are serious: your salary is reduced or stops altogether, and then the race begins to find out what cover is available – but by then it is too late. It is worth asking Human Resources, before you need it, whether the company has an IJM policy and under what conditions it provides cover. It is a perfectly reasonable question and one that is best asked whilst you are still in good health.