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A New Care Leave for Parents of Children with Serious Health Condition

New Legislation Enacted

Author: Ueli Sommer, Partner and Head of Employment - Walder Wyss, Ltd.

As of July 1, 2021, under the New Earnings Compensation Act (NECA), working parents of a minor child whose health is seriously impaired due to illness or an accident are jointly entitled to a care leave of up to 14 weeks per incident and care allowance during the care leave. The parents of a child with a severe health impairment are eligible.

The civil status of the parents is irrelevant. The parents are entitled to care allowance if at least one of them is an employee, self-employed or an employee with a cash salary in the wife’s or husband’s business and interrupts the employment due to care-related duties. Parents who are unemployed, as well as foster parents, are entitled to care allowance if meeting some conditions.

Timeframe for Entitlement to New Care Leave

New Legislation Enacted

Author: Ueli Sommer, Partner and Head of Employment - Walder Wyss, Ltd.

The new care leave under the New Earnings Compensation Act can be taken all at once or be split into separate days. If both parents are employees, they are each entitled to a care leave of seven weeks and half of the maximum care allowance, unless they mutually agree on a split. Employees shall inform their employer immediately about the division of the care leave, when and how they wish to take the leave and any subsequent changes.

The entitlement stops at the end of the 18 months’ timeframe or after the maximum care allowance has been claimed. It also stops in case the conditions for receiving care allowance are no longer met, e.g. because the child no longer has a severe health impairment. However, if the child reaches the age of majority during the 18 months’ timeframe, the entitlement does not stop.

Allowance Under the New Care Leave

New Legislation Enacted

Author: Ueli Sommer, Partner and Head of Employment - Walder Wyss, Ltd.

Under the New Earnings Compensation Act (NECA), the eligible parents who are entitled to the care allowance can receive a maximum of 98 daily care allowances. They are also entitled to allowances on days off (e.g., Saturday and Sunday). Therefore, two additional daily allowances are paid out for every five working days. This means that the parents can claim 98 daily allowances but can only take 70 actual vacation days. The daily allowance amounts to 80 percent of the average income earned before the entitlement to care allowance started, up to a maximum of 196 Swiss francs per day amounting to a total of 19,208 Swiss francs.

In case of a part-time employment, the level of the allowance is adjusted to the workload. The daily allowances are also paid for days on which the employee does not work. If, due to this limitation, the care allowance does not cover 80 percent of the salary, the employer must pay at least the difference between the daily allowance and 80 percent of the salary. The employer may also voluntarily continue to pay the full salary but is not obliged to do so.