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Easy answers about life in Switzerland
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  • Short-time working

Short-time working

If your company is temporarily in financial difficulties, you can reduce or totally suspend the work of your employees without having to lay them off. 

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If your company's operations cease or are temporarily reduced for extraordinary reasons outside your company's control (e.g. unusual weather conditions, a downturn in the economy or a pandemic), you can apply to introduce short-time working.
The main aim of short-time working is to avoid employees having to be laid off.

Where and how?

First you need to contact the relevant authority in the canton where your company is based.
Your local authority will give you a form to pre-register for short-time working. Fill it out and send it back.
You can find all of the forms on work.swiss, or you can use the e-service on www.job-room.ch to send the pre-registration form to the relevant cantonal authority.
Short-time work requires the employee's consent. The employer must obtain the employee's consent in advance and confirm it when they pre-register.

When?

You have to apply for short-time working at least ten days before it is introduced in your company.
Exceptionally, you may apply three days in advance if you can prove that there is an immediate need to reduce working hours is due to sudden and unforeseeable circumstances.
If you need to extend the short-time working period beyond the period authorised, you must reapply at least ten days before your existing authorisation expires.

Compensation and salary

  • Compensation for short-time working is 80% of loss of earnings, i.e. 80% of the percentage of work temporarily lost. The canton pays compensation to the employer, who passes it on to the employees.

  • The employer may reduce the wage for short-time working to 80% and must pay the net wage on the usual payday.

  • For the percentage of work retained, the salary is paid by the employer.

  • In addition, the unemployment insurance covers the employer's social insurance contributions (OASI, disability, etc.) for the hours worked during the short-time working phase.

  • During their notice period, employees are entitled to their full salary.

  • People with on-call contracts or highly fluctuating workloads do not receive short-time working compensation.

  • There is no short-time working compensation for people in training or temporary employees. They are entitled to their full salary.

  • Employees with temporary contracts, without a contractually agreed termination option, do not receive short-time working compensation. They are entitled to their full salary.

  • Employees who have not consented to short-time working are entitled to their full salary.

Compensation and social security

Short-time working does not affect pension or social insurance contributions such as OASI or loss-of-earnings compensation; both employers and employees must continue to pay these in full. Employees are insured for their normal wages.
Short-time working compensation was created to help prevent redundancies and preserve existing jobs. Nevertheless, during the short-time working phase, both the employer and the employee can terminate the employment contract. Regardless of who has given notice: from the start of the notice period, the employer can no longer claim short-time working compensation.
Further information can be found on the work.swiss website.
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