Hi,

I'm being laid off from my employer here in Geneva. Luckily I've been negotiating with my former boss at another company (in the US) and he really wants to hire me as their European Sales Manager. There are several options available for him to hire me, but I'd prefer to be able to collect Swiss unemployment should things not work out ... so ...

How do I work for this US-based company in Geneva?

1) They don't have any offices outside of the US
2) I would be working from my Geneva home office and covering all of Europe
3) I'd like to get paid in Swiss Francs (and pay into the unemployment, etc in order to be eligible to receive benefits)
4) I don't want to be paid in $ and be on an ex-pat contract from the US

I have an EU passport (German citizen) and already have a B-permit. What's the best way for this US company to hire me?

Could they somehow start a Swiss office (from the US) and have me as their sole employee in Geneva?

I'm trying to make it as painless and inexpensive for both parties.

Thank you in advance for any advice ...

Easiest for them would be if you set up your own GmbH (Sarl) and that GmbH sends them an invoice. You are then employed by the GmbH.

Sorry about your situation; at least you have something to work on.

It really sounds like you should consult a relevent lawyer and accountant. Please let us know how you get on.

This approach has many advantages.

However, owners, spouse of owners, and chief executives are not eligible for unemployment benefits.

They would be if they were to liquidate the company. So if one assumes it is a company set up for one contract only, there shouldn't be any problems really to liquidate it if necessary if the contract is canceled and then receive unemployment benefits.

Also, the issue of spouse seem to be less strict than I personally thought. At least from what I have been able to deduct here on the forum. It seems that if the spouse has been working in a different company and has been paying unemployment contribution, she or he would be eligible. I think this is difficult to get confirmed though unless someone has personal experience of this with RAV. If anyone does, I would be interested to know about it at it is an issue that interests me from a personal point of view.

Apart from unemployment, there are of course the other social security contributions, such as AHV, BVG, KKT etc which you would be eligible for without any problems.

I have been through the RAV mill.

The spouse rule is intended to disqualify persons starting a company in their spouse's name and subsequently claiming ALE (unemployment benefits). The ALE applicant must declare that neither the applicant nor the spouse was part owner or executive officer of the previous employer, which dismissed the applicant. Else, the RAV will drill down to discover all facts pertaining to the relationship between applicant and former employer. Even if all is kosher, the ALE applicant might have to wait several months for benefits.