Paid, unpaid leave and specific events

Art. 52 OPers-EPF (RS 172.220.113) (French)

(Conditions governing leave for special events)

In brief …

Paid, partly paid or unpaid leave may be granted to employees in certain cases, provided it does not hinder the carrying out of their professional activities.

The decision to grant paid, partly paid or unpaid leave for unregulated cases is made by direct superiors in agreement with the Human Resources Managers.

For more information regarding the procedures to follow, please contact the Human Resources Manager of your faculty. You will find their information on our homepage.

Link to leaves for specific events

In detail

Leave related to family events in particular must be taken during the days preceding or following the event. 

Paid leave is granted in proportion to the employee’s scale of occupation.

No paid leave is granted for the settlement of private matters. 

Foreseeable absences are only regarded as working time if the activities in question cannot be carried out during the employee’s free time or within the framework of flexible working schedules. These include medical consultations, therapies, and summons by an administrative department for a non-private matter.

Unpaid leave must not exceed one year.

The employee must submit a written request stating the dates and reasons for the unpaid leave to their School’s Human Resources Manager. This request must be approved and countersigned by the direct superior.

For unpaid leave exceeding one month, according to the regulations of the PUBLICA pension fund, the employee has the following three possibilities of continuation concerning 2cd pillar coverage : 

  • Global coverage (retirement, death and invalidity) and monthly payment of the retirement and risk required contributions (employee and employer shares)
  • Risk coverage (death and invalidity) and payment of the risk required contributions (employee and employer shares)
  • No coverage

In the event of the continuation of insurance coverage (global or risk), the contributions required for the period of the leave shall be deducted from the last salary before the leave.

For unpaid leave exceeding one month, the employee must insure themselves against accidents individually and at their own expense (SUVA or another insurer). For the first 31 days, the employee remains covered by SUVA insurance.

General remark

If the above-mentioned events coincide with the employee’s vacation or officially recognised public holidays, there is no entitlement to leave.

Reduction of vacation entitlement:

In the event of unpaid leave exceeding 30 days in the calendar year, vacation entitlement is reduced as follows: 

Reduction =    (Number of vacation days) x (absence in days in the calendar year –  30 days) / 365