If the employee is pregnant, the following information is relevant for you as an employer:
- During the pregnancy and in the 16 weeks following childbirth, your employee is protected against dismissal.
- If the employee falls ill before the birth, the obligation to continue to pay wages applies, i.e. in the first year of service you must continue to pay 100% of the wage for at least 3 weeks. After the 2nd year of service, the duration of the payment depends on the salary continuation scale of the respective canton. If you have taken out a voluntary KTG insurance, you are obliged to continue paying at least 80% of the average salary.
- As the main employer, you apply for maternity compensation for your employee at the relevant compensation office.
- Accident insurance is also valid during the 14-week maternity leave, i.e. the employer must also pay the corresponding insurance premiums during this period. Maternity compensation is also subject to withholding tax and must therefore be taken into account in the payroll.
Please find further information on maternity compensation here:
According to the Code of Obligations, women are entitled to maternity compensation for 14 weeks (98 days) from the day of birth. This amounts to 80% of the average gross income of the last 12 months, up to a maximum of CHF 220 per day. The compensation is subject to social security contributions and the costs are covered by the compensation office.
These conditions must be fulfilled by the mother in order to be entitled to maternity compensation:
- The mother must have worked for 9 months before the birth or have paid social contributions to the AHV.
- Have worked for at least 5 months during pregnancy.
- Have an existing employment relationship at the time of birth.
The maternity allowance must be applied for. If the employee has several employers, the application must be made through the main employer. The secondary employers fill in a supplementary sheet and send it to the employee. If the child is born, the employee can fill in the registration form and send it to the main employer together with all the necessary documents (for instance: copy of the birth certificate, supplementary sheets from the secondary employers, etc.). The main employer then completes the form with the necessary information and sends it to the relevant compensation office. After successful verification, the compensation office transfers the maternity compensation directly to the mother's account.
If you are the main employer and are a customer of quitt, quitt supports you to apply for and pay the maternity compensation to your employee. Quitt will also make sure, that these payments are correctly displayed in your payroll accounting.