I would like to help a good friend of mine who is in a rather tough situation:
Non-EU family, the husband works in Basel, the spouse is a house wife and they have two children: 3 year old girl and a 4M baby. A year ago the older girl was diagnosed with autism, as s result the spouse left with the two children to the home country in order to give therapy to the girl in an extensive and familiar environment. The husband continued working in Basel, and keeps commuting. Moreover, the spouse got a severe depression and gets into a phase where she can barely look after the 4M baby (the older girl is in a specialized kindergarten for children with autism, until 5 pm every day).

His question: He considers leaving his work in order to look after the children and move back to the home-country. What dies the Swiss law say and can he claim any funds from his insurance/pension company?

If the child who has autism was born in Switzerland, it may have been possible to get support through the IV (disability insurance) system, but the parents have made their decision about how best to get her support in their home country.

If the mum has severe postnatal depression or postnatal psychosis, she should get proper medical support. However, caring for a small baby is tough at the best of times...

Is it possible for him to take a period of holidays or sick leave or unpaid leave to see if he can sort things out without abandoning his job? He would need to ask his employer if this is possible.

This is one of the options.

I was under the impression that the insurance company is supposed to help in case that there are dependants (2 children, one of which has a disability) and the spouse becomes disable of taking care of the children (due to severe depression)?