Sick leave in Switzerland: rules for expats

This guide focuses on private-sector employees and draws on official Swiss sources, but individual circumstances and wider Swiss employment law can affect your rights, so it should not replace legal or medical advice. It explains reporting requirements, sick pay, dismissal protection, mental health leave, and the main employment and insurance documents expats should check.

Key takeaways

• Tell your employer as soon as you know you cannot work, then check whether your contract or staff handbook sets a stricter reporting rule.
• A sick leave certificate in Switzerland is often requested after around three days, but some employers can ask for one from day one.
• Sick pay usually follows one of two routes: employer KTG insurance, often around 80% of insured salary for 720 or 730 days within 900 days, or statutory salary continuation based on years of service and local scales.
• After probation, an employer generally cannot dismiss an employee during illness-related incapacity for up to 30 days in the first year of service, 90 days in years two to five, and 180 days from the sixth year. Exceptions and special rules can apply.
• Burnout, depression, and other mental health conditions generally fall under ordinary illness rules when a licensed doctor or psychiatrist certifies incapacity for work.

How sick leave works in Switzerland

Start with three checks: how and when to notify your employer, when you need a medical certificate, and how your sick pay is provided. Official Swiss guidance on absences due to illness or accident says employees should notify their employer as soon as possible and explains the two main sick-pay routes.

The principal legal basis for private-sector employment is the Swiss Code of Obligations. Your employment contract, any collective labor agreement, and the terms of your employer’s daily sickness benefit insurance may also affect your entitlement. Where a valid written arrangement provides benefits that are at least equivalent overall, sickness benefit insurance can replace the statutory salary-continuation system.

Labor Law

Swiss employment law and labor rights

Read more

What to do on day one of sick leave

According to ch.ch, you should tell your employer as soon as possible if illness stops you from working. Follow the reporting procedure in your contract or staff handbook, which may require you to contact your manager, HR, or both.

Your initial message should say that you are unable to work and, if possible, how long you expect the absence to last. You do not normally need to disclose your diagnosis, although your employer may require a medical certificate confirming the degree and expected duration of your incapacity.

How sick pay works in Switzerland

Sick pay in Switzerland is not set at one national flat rate. It usually depends on whether a valid daily sickness benefit insurance arrangement applies – often called KTG, from the German term Krankentaggeldversicherung – or whether the statutory salary-continuation rules apply.

If there is no equivalent insurance arrangement, the Code of Obligations generally requires the employer to continue paying the employee’s salary for a limited period, provided the employment relationship has lasted for more than three months or was agreed for longer than three months.

The minimum entitlement is three weeks during the first year of service and a longer period in subsequent years. Courts commonly use the Bern, Basel, or Zurich scale to determine that longer period.

Many employers use sickness benefit insurance instead. A common arrangement covers around 80% of the insured salary for 720 or 730 days within a 900-day period, usually subject to a waiting period.

This can provide benefits for much longer than the statutory system, although the amount paid may be lower unless the employer provides a top-up. Your contract, any collective labor agreement, and the insurance policy determine the actual entitlement.

This sits within Switzerland’s wider social security system, but your contract still matters.

Government & Law

The Swiss social security system

Read more

If your employer has sick pay (KTG) insurance

Many Swiss employers use daily sickness allowance insurance (KTG). Official Swiss guidance says insured arrangements commonly provide benefits for 720 or 730 days within a 900-day period; policies often cover around 80% of the insured salary.

An insurance arrangement can replace statutory salary continuation if it is established through a written agreement, standard employment contract, or collective labor agreement and provides benefits that are at least equivalent overall.

Check the policy or ask HR about the waiting period, insured salary, payment percentage, employer top-up, benefit duration, and premium contributions.

If your employer does not have sick pay insurance

If no KTG exists, statutory salary continuation may still protect you. In the first year of service, the employer generally pays the full salary for at least three weeks, provided the employment relationship has lasted more than three months or was agreed for longer than three months. Entitlement increases in subsequent years.

The Basel, Bern, and Zurich scales are judicial guidelines used to estimate the applicable period after the first year. The relevant scale generally depends on the court jurisdiction, rather than on which scale the employer prefers.

• A collective labor agreement may give you better terms than the legal default.
• Separate periods of incapacity can count towards the same total entitlement during a year of service.
• Ask how commission, bonuses, allowances, and other variable pay will be treated.
• Confirm which judicial scale applies before estimating how long full salary will continue.

When do you need a medical certificate?

In Switzerland, a sick leave certificate – often called an Arztzeugnis in German-speaking areas – provides evidence of incapacity for work rather than details of the illness itself. ch.ch says a certificate is generally needed after about three days, while the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) says employers can ask for one from day one if their contract or policy allows it.

The certificate normally states whether you are fully or partly unable to work and how long the incapacity is expected to last. For partial incapacity, it should indicate the extent of the restriction, such as the maximum number of hours you can work each day or week. It should not normally disclose whether your absence relates to burnout, depression, or another diagnosis.

• Your employer can ask for a note from day one if the rule is clear in the contract or policy.
• Many employment contracts require one only from the third or fourth day.
• For partial incapacity, the certificate should state the degree of incapacity or the hours you can work.
• Your employer generally needs information about the extent and expected duration of the incapacity, not your diagnosis.
• Check your contract, staff handbook, and current HR guidance for the reporting deadline and submission process.

What does a Swiss medical certificate show?

Can you be fired while on sick leave?

After probation, employees have limited protection against dismissal during illness or recovery from an accident. Under SECO’s termination guidance and Art. 336c of the Swiss Code of Obligations, ordinary notice given by an employer during an applicable protected period is invalid.

Probation is different. The statutory protection periods do not apply during probation, and illness may extend the probationary period by the corresponding number of missed days.

If your right to remain in Switzerland depends on your employment, losing your job may also affect your residence position, depending on your nationality and permit type. This is why work visas in Switzerland are also worth understanding.

If your employer gives valid notice before you become unable to work, the dismissal itself remains valid. However, if the incapacity overlaps the legally calculated notice period, that period is suspended until you recover or the maximum protected period is exhausted.

If the contract can end only at the end of a month or another specified date, the termination date may then move to the next permitted date.

Burnout, depression, and mental health sick leave

Mental health conditions generally follow the same Swiss sick-leave, sick-pay, and dismissal-protection rules as physical illnesses when they result in medically certified incapacity for work. This can include depression, anxiety, and conditions associated with burnout, although burnout is not always treated as a standalone medical diagnosis.

If your mental health is affecting your ability to work, seek an assessment from a doctor, such as your GP or a psychiatrist. A medical certificate can confirm that you are fully or partly unable to work without disclosing your diagnosis to HR or your manager.

If the incapacity continues, Swiss disability insurance may offer early-detection and reintegration support. According to the Federal Social Insurance Office, an early-detection notification may be made after at least 30 days of incapacity or repeated health-related absences within a 12-month period. This is intended to support continued employment or a return to work and is not automatically an application for a disability pension.

• Get medical help early if symptoms affect your ability to work.
• Keep certificates current, especially if leave extends or changes from full to partial incapacity.
• Burnout is usually treated as ordinary illness, not as an accident claim.
• A phased return may be possible if your doctor certifies partial capacity, although the arrangements should be agreed with your employer.
• If a long absence appears likely, ask about disability insurance early-detection and reintegration support.
• If you are in immediate danger or experiencing a mental health crisis, contact the local emergency or crisis service immediately.

What expats should check in your contract, health cover, and finances

Contracts, payslips, and HR policies may be written in German, French, or Italian. Before relying on a general explanation of Swiss sick-leave rules, check what your employment contract, any collective labor agreement, and your employer’s daily sickness benefit policy actually say.

Medical treatment cover is separate from income replacement. Basic Swiss health insurance helps with eligible medical costs, subject to the applicable deductible and co-payments, but it does not replace your salary while you are unable to work.

Healthcare Basics

Guide to getting health insurance in Switzerland in 2026

Read more

Useful terms include:

• CO or OR: the Swiss Code of Obligations (OR is the German abbreviation).
• Medical certificate or Arztzeugnis: a doctor’s note confirming incapacity.
• Incapacity for work or Arbeitsunfähigkeit: full or partial inability to do your job for medical reasons.
• Collective labor agreement: known as a Gesamtarbeitsvertrag (GAV) in German or convention collective de travail (CCT) in French; it may provide additional or alternative employment terms.
• Krankentaggeldversicherung or KTG: daily sickness benefit insurance that replaces part of the insured salary under the policy terms.
• Probation clause and absence-reporting rules: these affect matters such as certificate deadlines and when statutory dismissal protection begins.
• Employment-linked residence status: check whether losing or changing your job could affect your permit, as the consequences depend on your nationality and permit type.

If your insured sick pay is around 80% of salary, review the likely net payment rather than simply assuming that your take-home income will fall by exactly 20%. Employer top-ups, the insured salary, waiting periods, and payroll deductions can all affect the final amount. Compare the expected payment with fixed expenses in Swiss francs and any rent, loans, or family commitments abroad.

Expatica’s guide to the minimum wage and average salary in Switzerland can help you benchmark what a partial income means in practice.

Labor Law

The minimum wage and average salary in Switzerland in 2026

Read more

Expats seeking private medical treatment in more than one country can also compare international health insurers such as Cigna Global and APRIL International. These policies primarily cover eligible healthcare costs and do not normally replace statutory sick pay or employer KTG benefits unless the policy expressly includes separate income-protection cover.