Is my salary guaranteed when I’m off sick?

This morning when you wake up, your throat feels sore, you start coughing and your thermometer reads 38°C: you can’t go to work, so you call in sick to your employer. It’s the start of a bout of flu that will keep you bedridden for two weeks. Will your pay at the end of the month suffer as a result?

If your company has sick pay insurance, the days you miss will be paid at 80% or 100% of your salary, depending on the contract. And if the flu drags on – or another illness strikes – the cover includes salary protection for up to 730 days.

Optional insurance

Sickness income protection insurance is funded equally by contributions from employees (deducted directly from their pay) and employers. Very often, people who have always benefited from it are unaware that, unlike the LAMal or accident insurance, it is not compulsory in this country.

Some employers therefore do not offer this cover to their staff. And if they do decide to take out a policy, the choice of benefits is also flexible. To reduce premiums, they can, for example, choose a policy that only pays out after 30 days of absence – in which case they cover this waiting period out of their own pocket.

In 2024, a motion tabled in the Federal Parliament proposed making at least minimum cover compulsory. It was not adopted.

Opponents justified this lack of compulsion with the following arguments:

• A large majority of companies already have such insurance

• Issues specific to certain sectors are resolved through social partnership

• Making cover for loss of earnings due to illness compulsory would increase premiums

• The absence of insurance would further encourage companies to invest in prevention, to avoid finding themselves in the position of having to pay wages to absent employees.

This last statement serves as a reminder of the following point: without insurance, employers are still obliged to pay their sick employees. For how long?

Sick and without loss of earnings: how long will I be paid?

If nothing is specified, either in the contract or in any collective agreement, this depends on the region and length of service with the company. During the first year of service, salary continues to be paid for 3 weeks. This period increases with length of service. It reaches around 6 months after some 20 years of service, with details varying from region to region according to three main systems: the Bern scale, the Basel scale and the Zurich scale.

Unlike insurance schemes, where each new illness – and certain relapses – resets the counter, the statutory scheme in principle covers all sick leave within a year of service.

Consequences for employees

For any working person, it is unsettling to know that in the event of absence due to illness, income is only guaranteed for a limited time. Financial insecurity is then added to the hardship of the illness. And the alternatives, once the number of days for which pay is guaranteed has been used up, are few: initially, drawing on one’s savings, seeking help from family or applying for social assistance – whilst awaiting a decision from the disability insurance scheme.

Illness, dismissal and unemployment

Is an employer allowed to dismiss a sick employee? Yes, but only after a certain protection period. For details on the legal timeframes, please see our article on this subject:

Dismissal and illness

However, the situation that follows is tricky: registering as unemployed effectively implies that you are fit for work. In the event of total incapacity for work, you are therefore not eligible for benefits.

If you fall ill whilst unemployed, once again, the protection is limited. The AVIG continues payments for 30 days throughout the entire reference period. Beyond that, you no longer receive benefits. Only the cantons of Geneva and Vaud have introduced sickness-related loss of earnings insurance for the unemployed. The duration varies according to the reference period but can be up to five months.

A special rule applies to people registered with disability insurance: unemployment insurance pays them full benefits from a 20% capacity for work.

Can you take out insurance as an individual?

Yes. This option is often chosen by the self-employed, or by people working for an employer without group insurance. In the event of unemployment, such an option can also be useful, but it is important to note that premiums are generally very high – comparable to those under the LAMal.

In the event of redundancy, employers are required to offer redundant staff the option of remaining affiliated to their loss of earnings insurance on an individual basis. Due to the cost of premiums, few people choose this option.

This is therefore a tricky situation, particularly as the number of days lost due to illness is on the rise these days.