What should I do if I’m made redundant?

You may be eligible for unemployment benefits – see our page on unemployment insurance for details.

Here we look at some forms of contract termination that might lead to litigation.

Unfair dismissal

If you are fired without a reasonable justification, the contract terminates (unless the Gender Equality Act (GEA) applies) but your employer will have to pay compensation. The amount of compensation is decided by the judge, taking all circumstances into consideration, but can’t be more than the equivalent of six months’ salary.

Opposing notice of contract termination

If you think you have been wrongfully dismissed and want to claim compensation, you need to oppose the contract termination in writing to your employer before the end of the notice period.

Legal action

If your opposition is valid and you cannot agree with your employer to maintain your contract, you can claim compensation (see below for the procedure) by initiating legal proceedings within 180 days of the end of the contract, i.e. you must submit the claim to the relevant authority or at least have handed it to a Swiss post office addressed to the relevant authority before midnight on the 180^th day after the conventional or legal end date of the contract. Sending your employer an order of payment is not sufficient.

Our top tip: Don’t delay if you think your contract termination is unjustified – you will lose all right to compensation if you miss the deadline for opposing the termination or initiating legal action.

Termination at a protected time

Your employer cannot terminate your contract at the following times:

• When you’re undertaking obligatory military or civil service;
• In the first 30 days of partial or total work incapacity during your first year at the company, the first 90 days of incapacity from the second to the fifth year or the first 180 days of incapacity from the sixth year onwards;
• When you’re pregnant or within 16 weeks of you giving birth;
• When you’re participating in an aid mission abroad.

Notification of redundancy received by the employee during one of these protected periods is legally void and has no effect. Your employer will therefore have to issue a new notice of termination once the protected period has ended if they still want to dismiss you.

Immediate termination

Either you or your employer can terminate your contract with immediate effect. This is done by making a clear, voluntary declaration, and comes into effect when the other party receives it. Immediate termination is unilateral, unconditional and irrevocable. Any immediate termination, whether justified or not, legally ends the employment relationship.

Examples of justified grounds for immediate termination by the employer:

• Offences by the employee that harm the employer, colleagues or clients;
• Misuse of emails and internet;
• Accepting or soliciting bribes;
• A serious violation of loyalty to the employer;
• Competing activity;
• Sexual harassment;
• Taking holiday expressly denied by the employer;
• Leaving the post without permission;
• Whistleblowing dishonestly or with the sole intention of damaging the employer.

Examples of justified grounds for immediate termination by the employee:

• Serious personal harm, such as through bullying or sexual harassment;
• Refusal by the employer to accept the employee’s work;
• Unilateral and immediate changes made to the contract;
• Being expected to commit or cover up wrongdoing;
• Non-payment or late payment of the employee’s salary even after receiving formal notice.

Unjustified immediate termination

If a termination with immediate effect is found to be unjustified following litigation (see here), you are entitled to the income that you would have earned if the notice period had been respected, or if the contract had reached its anticipated end date if it was a fixed-term contract.

The judge may also order the employer to pay additional compensation. The amount of compensation is determined by the judge, taking all circumstances into consideration, but cannot exceed the equivalent of six months of your salary.