Hi all

I am an EU citizen with a 5 year B permit. I began working in Vaud in August 2013. I have been paying full taxes, insurance and unemployment insurance since then.

I have recently been offered a new job and have accepted. I will start the new job in August 2015 but finish my current job in May 2015. So I will have approximately 90 days with no pay coming in but I will still be residing in Switzerland. I have given 2 months notice to my current employer.

I am currently working on a Doctorate program Part Time and would be spending these 90 days out of work to do my Doctorate.

1. Am I entitled or able to apply for any financial aid or benefits in this situation?

2. What do I need to do in order to qualify for any aid?

The unemployment insurance insures you against unemployment... who would have thought that. This means that you will get support if you lose your job. In your case did YOU quit. Even then could you get money after some days of "punishment" but: only if you are looking for work immediately. If YOU chose to start the new job two months later than your first one ends is this your problem, not the societies job to pay you. Yes, the authorities would check with your new employer if he wanted you to join this late of if it was you.

Thank you for the reply.

I am not choosing to start the new job in August. The new employer has told me the new job will only start at the beginning of August and my first pay would be received around August 25th or so.

If I understand you correctly - are you saying I should go to the local unemployment office and explain the case?

Yes I fully understand the situation around voluntarily quitting a job and being made redundant. It is for this reason I am here asking.

Sure. Just for the record: I got paid by the RAV for 1 month before. But honestly: you will never get paid for the first week of unemployment. I would be very surprised if you get paid for the next month or two if you quit on your own. So go to the RAV, explain but don't expect a positive answer...

Thank you very much.

I live in Vaud. By RAV do you mean the ORP (Office régionaux de placement)?

When should I go to them to explain the case? Should I go as soon as possible or wait until closer to the time when my work will stop at my current job?

RAV will not help you. You have quit your job and therefore you will have to wait until the 90th day to get any benefits. And as you have a new job lined up and will have started by around day 60, you won't qualify for benefits.

Have a nice relaxing summer though!

Why did you give notice with such a big gap between ending one job and starting the next one? This your choice, right?

No, because you terminated your job i.e. you are unemployed/jobless by choice, from the unemployment office's perspective. You are entitled if your employer decided to eliminate your job or replace you. These are the rules.

Under these circumstances and according to the rules, nothing you can do.

Thank you all. These are the responses I expected.

It is not by choice that I will go 90 days with no pay, it is a result of the industry involved - education. It is out of my control.

In some countries if you are out of work waiting for a contract to begin there are some small financial aids available to you in the interim. I just wanted to check to see if anything like that was available here. It seems from your replies this is not the case though.

Thank you

If you go to RAV, you would be expected to spend all week every week applying for jobs, attending interviews and going on courses. If you get offered a job you would be expected to take it. So if you need those 90 days for doctorate work, that doesn't really work.

Ok, so simples: Did you quit or did your contract simply run out? If your job simply ended and your current employer has no interest to hire you on are you unemployed and entitled to support.

Bottom line: if the RAV can spin it in any way that it's your choice are you not getting money, otherwise yes. Only thing to keep in mind - if you go there to get the money can they assign stupid jobs to you between your two contracts... you will find a lot of discussion on that on this forum, just read them.

Things have probaly changed since then but my dad had a few months' gap between his firm closing and his official retirement date at 65. He had to go and help with changing the railway sidings are the local station, as there was no other work available - he was a watch maker! He complained that he was too old, had back problems and was a skilled worker- reply 'tough' we don't pay you for sitting on your a*se until your pension kicks in.

If it was a fixed-term contract and not a voluntary job termination, take a copy of the contract and go to the unemployment office. They can advise you.

Thanks again guys. It was entirely my choice to resign and had nothing to do with my contract. In fact I had to break my contract to resign.

I thought exactly what you are all saying - that it was my choice to decide to have 2-3 months with no pay - so I'm not surprised there is no support for people in these positions.

I thought that maybe there was potential for some financial aid given the new employer cannot start me until August but the old employer will stop paying me in May. It is kind of the nature of the education industry to be aware that leaving one job for another will mean a summer without pay.

I agree with other posts. I had the same situation and, after deducting the 21 day reserve period, I got paid for the extra month before starting my new gig.

Hi Uetliberg - this is interesting. How did you go about this? I was under the impression I would get nothing but you seem to think it is worth going to the unemployment office, stating my case and trying to get even one month of lost pay before I start in August?

What have you got to lose? Just go and ask for advice- you never know and could be lucky.

However, as I posted before, they do not have to pay at all if you give up your job voluntarily wihtout having discussed the issues you have with your employer and clearly and given them a chance to make improvements and you shown that you've done your best to find ways to resolve problems. This was well illustrated in a case last year when RAV refused to pay as the guy had given up his job voluntarily and not gone through any of the due process as described above. He took RAV to the Federal Court and lost.