hi,
quick advice needed, i was off on maternity leave and could not find childcare. the childcare i did find was not long enough (8-5pm) for me to do 100% of my hours @42 hrs and my boss would not let me work 90%. They said they would terminate if no solution was found or I resign, what are my entitlements?
HR are useless they are no help. Would I be able to claim anything or have job seeker allowance?
thanks in advance, anyone else had same experience where employer would not be flexible? this is a multinational company!!

Really sorry to read you're in this predicament. Is there any chance of doing the ten percent from home?

If you don't have full time childcare in place, you won't get unemployment payments as you are not available for work. If you're eligible for social security payments (i.e. no or few assets and no spouse who pays maintenance), you can apply for these, but your residence permit may not be renewed.

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Well, Chemmie? Another woman milking the system, huh?

Always better to resign. Termination = bad reference.

The bitter aftertaste you'll get from having to resign can be treated with mouthwash.

(in the interest of balance, being forced to resign from a job leaves a bitter aftertaste whether you're male or female)

In Switzerland thats not true, get terminated & then you have the possibility of unemployment pay if you have childcare arrangements in hand, assuming at least 12 months work in the last 24 months
If you resign there will be upto 4 1/2 months waiting before unemployment.

The reference should be the same & by law needs to be good!

boss wldnt even consider 90% or 95%

A friend of mine is on part-time social security benefits - she parted ways with her employer on mutual grounds because her childcare hours (and preferred routine) did not fit what the employer wanted.

She gets paid a part-time unemployment benefit and she therefore only needs to find a part-time job that suits her childcare arrangements - and she was successful in doing that within a couple of months...

Good luck with your search...and deciding what you want to do from this point...

Personally, if your employer isn't flexible they are just trying to push you out because they can - negotiating part-time work is certainly an uphill battle when they know you have a small child at home, and my experience as a mum in that situation is that the child gets sick a lot too in those first two years, and if you don't have a supportive boss now, it won't get any easier to 'prove' you can keep up to their expectations...

So what do I need to do to be entitled? Resign or terminate? And how do I apply for benefits? I tried my best but with childcare hours not beingenough it means leaving for work super duper early and not seeing thehubbie as we wld be doing it in shifts just to make it home for nanny. Not fair on the kid.

Sorry to hear a compromise could not be made, it's a shame there isn't more flexibility. Good luck with whatever you pursue instead.

Sadly this is the reality for most working parents out there. And yes often the child care costs as much as you earn. For some though, it is a long-term investment, as in many jobs being out of it for too long means that you will find it extremely hard to return years later. Many jobs cannot be done properly part-time, especially at managerial/senior level.

This is not really your employers problem, although a good and forward thinking employer will try and work with you to find solutions. And of course your partner/OH has also to take the new circumstances and take his part in adapting his hours, job etc.

As explained, if YOU resign benefits will not start until 3-4.5 months after last salary. But you would only get benefits if you were genuinely looking for work and prepared to work (with the relevant child-care in place). Most of us you could not/would not work full time after a baby had to leave without pay. You can't really expect to be paid unemployment benefit if you choose not to work after a baby, can you? Tough I know. Bonne chance.

Switzerland is one of the few countries that it's quite possible to live on a single salary & have a family, it may not be luxary but it's possible.

Indeed.

My colleagues in Norway and Sweden could never understand how I could have a job similar to theirs, and a stay-a-home wife.

Oh, and in those countries, a stay at home parent is NOT viewed in a good light!

Tom

I don't give a monkey's about how people view my choices, our choices- but they are ours and our responsibility.

Just to straighten the record.
http://www.vd.ch/fr/themes/economie/emploi-chomage/

It refers to the federal and Geneva law, but Vaud is quite similar. also, here http://conseils-carriere.monster.ch/...6/article.aspx

In summary, if you resign, your unemployment will be starting a few months later. Otherwise, assuming that you have worked for at least 12 months, you will have coverage up to a certain percentage of your current income, up to a ceiling (higher if you have dependents aka, your baby).

It is NOT true that a termination is a bad reference. In all cases, the employer must provide a letter explaining why you have been terminated, and a certificate of employment relating what you have accomplished during your time of employment. YOu have a right to request a change of phrasing or of content if these documents are not fair.

You may also consider contacting the Prudhommes association, to see if there is a way to pressure your boss in accepting a 90% contract. Replacing a worker has a cost (quite high, actually) both in missed productivity, training, hiring, time; that is all stuff that should be explained to your supervisor (you can google statistics on that). You could imagine building a case for yourself, outlining how long you need a 90%...

Good info and advice. However no unemployment benefit will be paid unless you are a/actively looking for work b/ prepared to accept a job and work.
Of course you may accept a job with more humane hours than 42.


Women in Switzerland are entitled to a maximum of 14 weeks maternity leave at 80% of salary. Medieval, yes, and this only since 1st July 2005.

I did my best to try and be back for work but also due to nanny being restrictive in hours it meant I wld have to be at work 0730-1630 to be home in time and get baby ready for bed bath etc after a long day at work. I just thought after paying a nanny etc the extra after is just not worth the deprived sleep and pressures of trying to be good at work and be a good mum. I know there are ppl out there who do it. I just couldn't face it esp with her still waking for night feeds. No point doing two jobs badly?!?! So tough decision buy there's no right decision had I been able to go back slightly less than full time I would go without a doubt back to work. Staying at home and being with baby all day is tough and emotionally exhausting but also rewarding too. I just want to make sure I am not losing out on any entitlements like child allowance etc. Respect to working mums out there.

That is not correct.

We were always a two income family and continued this when we had our first 2 children. When we came to Switzerland I gave up my job.

Now I don't think we will be returning to our old two income family status until the kids are well into high school.

Sometimes the cost of daycare defeats the purpose of having the second job...

Totally agree, and very comfortably so. Just makes me sad to see it's so hard for women to get back to work. :/

It never ceases to amaze me that people dont't get these things sorted out before deciding to procreate...