Can you use up your sickness benefit?

Can you use up your sickness benefit?

As an electrician by trade, I find myself without pay after 2 months of sickness because my employer has stopped paying me on the grounds that, according to him, I have spent my sick pay "credit". Does he have the right to do this while I'm still sick?

A, Geneva.

The situation you describe is not normal. Under the terms of art. 324a of the Swiss Code of Obligations (CO), any employee who is prevented from working through no fault of his own for reasons inherent in his person (such as illness, accident or fulfilment of a legal obligation) is entitled to a salary for a limited period, provided that the employment relationship has lasted more than three months or has been concluded for more than three months.

If the employee is compulsorily insured, by virtue of a legal provision, against the economic consequences of an inability to work through no fault of his own, the employer does not owe the salary if the insurance benefits due for the limited period cover at least four-fifths of the salary for that period. If the insurance benefits are lower, the employer must pay the difference between these benefits and 80% of the salary. If insurance benefits are paid only after a waiting period, the employer must pay at least four-fifths of the salary during this period (art. 324b CO).

In Geneva, the collective agreement for the building industry has been extended and is therefore binding on all companies and employees working in the sector. This "CCT-Métallurgie" also applies, in particular, to electricians. According to article 29, in the event of illness, in place of the right to salary for a limited period of time under article 324a CO, compulsory health insurance has been introduced for all workers. Daily allowances cover 80 % of gross salary in the event of illness from the second working day for which the doctor certifies incapacity for work. The benefit period is 720 days within a period of 900 consecutive days.

Your employer is therefore obliged to have taken out sickness insurance for loss of earnings equivalent to that set up by the CCT-Métallurgie and you are entitled to receive 80% of your salary for as long as your illness lasts (but for a maximum of 720 days). The insurance company will pay this directly to you. If your employer fails to take out this insurance, he will owe you your salary for the entire period.