New paternity-leave rules came into force on 1 January 2021

The adoption of the bill means that all working fathers are entitled to a two-week period of paternity leave, i.e. ten days off work. They can take this leave within six months from the birth of their child, either all at once or spread over individual days. Employers are prohibited from reducing the employee’s holiday entitlement in response.

Compensation will be paid to fathers who were gainfully employed at the time of their child’s birth, whether as an employee or through self-employment. They must also have been compulsorily insured under the OASI scheme for the nine months prior to the birth and have been gainfully employed for at least five months during this period. The compensation is paid either directly to the employee or to the employer if the latter continues to pay the employee’s wages during the period of leave.

The compensation for loss of earnings amounts to 80 % of the average income from gainful employment subject to AHV contributions before the child’s birth. There is, however, an upper limit of CHF 196 per day. For a fortnight’s leave, 14 daily allowances will be paid, totalling a maximum of 2,744 Swiss francs.

To finance the paternity leave, the EO (income compensation scheme) contribution rate was increased from 0.45 to 0.5 per cent from 1 January 2021. (Source: Swiss federal office for social security [BSV])