Urgent: unpaid leave + tips on legal aid

muze7 · #1 30.08.2006, 23:24

I am considering taking unpaid leave. I am wondering whether I am liable to pay all insurances (AVG, BVG etc) in the intermediate period.

There are four aspects to this:

a) are people on unpaid leave obliged to continue to pay pensions and other job related insurances (I am not talking about health insurance, I know that is a definite yes you have to)

b) if so, would the amount be a fixed, low amount, since I have $0 income during this time, so perhaps other rules apply than the normal % rates?

c) are people in CH entitled to unpaid leave?

d) legal aid, do you think it is wise I organise it, and what is the best source? I know there are unions, would signing up provide me with useful, affordable aid and access to people who know the rules in my sector?

Thanks heaps to anyone for any tips. PS. If you have an answer to part a) or b), do you know what your source is so I can back it up?

Richard · #2 31.08.2006, 07:50

	Quote:	muze7
	I work in the education sector and need to take unpaid leave for a few months for several very urgent reasons. My employer is of the opinion I should resign, and sign up again later, quoting the fact that I would be liable to pay all insurances (AVG, BVG etc) in the intermediate period. There are four aspects to this (since I do not want to resign, I actually organized the money for this position, and the whole principle is wrong, and I could go on): a) are people on unpaid leave really obliged to continue to pay pensions and other job related insurances (I am not talking about health insurance, I know that is a definite yes you have to)? b) if so, would the amount be a fixed, low amount, since I have $0 income during this time, so perhaps other rules apply than the normal % rates? c) are people in CH entitled to unpaid leave full stop? If not, but it depends on the situation, what about if one can argue the job won't be affected? d) legal aid, do you think it is wise I organise it, and what is the best source? I know there are unions, would signing up provide me with useful, affordable aid and access to people who know the rules in my sector? Thanks heaps to anyone for any tips. PS. If you have an answer to part a) or b), do you know what your source is so I can back it up?

I believe most of these have been answered before.

a. AHV Yes, IV Yes etc BVG No as this is a percentage of salary earned.

b. The others potentially revert to nominal amounts depending on the length of leave. AHV for example can be paid even after you have left Switzerland.

c. Absolutely not unless this is written in your contract.

d. Forget unions they are more or less irrelevant in Switzerland. The best you can get is to have rechtsschutzversicherung which covers Arbeitsrecht. Furthermore there are several good books you can get for reference. Ranging from the basics to an explanation of the Rechtssprechung.

As for sources I would have to check but I guess the first place is your pension policy for the BVG and try looking up OR 324 - 330c with google and see what you get! These are the main parts of the law relating to working and leave a lot open as you will see...

muze7 · #3 01.09.2006, 11:54

Thanks much Richard.

I managed to find some more info on the unpaid leave situation for future reference.

a) AVG/IV/? does not need to paid as long as you earned >4800 in a year, and thus paid >425 CHF. This is regardless of whether your income was more than 4800 in a given year, so the minimum is enough. I got this info from phoning the cantonal authority on AVG etc. Also, if you are only unpaid for part of the year, you do not need to register with AVG as an unemployed person.

b) BVG needs to paid at 3% by the employer normally even if you are on leave. In my case I end up paying this. The source of this info is my employer.