Periods of notice and protection

Periods of notice and protection

"I've been working for a company in Lausanne for almost three years now and have been unable to work for a month for health reasons. My colleagues have informed me that I may be dismissed. Is the notice period one or two months?"

Alexandre, Morges

On the occasion of Labour Day, we would like to remind you that the purpose of notice periods is to give employers and employees a certain amount of time to look for a new employee or a new job. Under the terms of article 335c of the Swiss Code of Obligations (CO), an employment contract may be terminated at the end of a month with a notice period of one month during the first year of service, two months from the second to the ninth year of service and three months thereafter. The aforementioned periods may be modified by written agreement, standard employment contract or collective bargaining agreement; however, periods of less than one month may only be set by collective bargaining agreement for the first year of service.

You are in your 3rd year of service: if your contract or any collective labour agreement does not stipulate otherwise, your notice period is two months.

Termination of the employment contract by the employer can be particularly distressing for the employee when it occurs during certain unfavourable periods in his or her life, particularly in the event of illness or accident. During such periods, the employee is protected against dismissal for a specified period (known as the protection period). Article 336c of the Swiss Code of Obligations therefore stipulates that, after the trial period, the employer may not terminate the contract during total or partial incapacity to work as a result of illness or accident through no fault of the employee, for 30 days during the first year of service, for 90 days from the second to the fifth year of service and for 180 days from the sixth year of service.

Notice given during the period of protection is null and void. On the other hand, if the notice was given before the incapacity occurred and the notice period has not yet expired, the notice period is suspended during the period of incapacity and does not continue to run until the end of the period of incapacity or the end of the protection period.

In this case, as you are in your 3rd year of service, you benefit from a protection period of 90 days from the start of your incapacity, during which your employer cannot terminate your contract. If you fail to do so, the leave will be automatically null and void. In other words, your employer will have to wait until you are fully fit to work again or have exhausted the maximum period of protection to which you are entitled before giving you valid notice of termination.