Dismissal file
The notice period runs to the end of a month, and it is suspended if the employee falls ill, has an accident, is pregnant or performs military service. Notice given during that period is void, not postponed: everything starts again.
Who it is forSMEs dismissing without an HR department, trustees assisting a client, directors who want an indisputable date, employers facing an ongoing illness.
Order
The calculation of the notice period and effective date, the letter, the employment reference, and the list of what must be handed over and settled.
Understand
What is a protected period?
After probation, notice given during an incapacity for work is void. Protection lasts thirty days in the first year of service, ninety from the second to the fifth, and one hundred and eighty thereafter. It also applies during pregnancy and the sixteen weeks after childbirth, and during compulsory service.
Art. 336c CO
Does the notice period start on the day of posting?
No, on receipt by the other party. A registered letter left uncollected is deemed received at the end of the seven-day collection period. The period then runs to the end of a month unless otherwise agreed in writing: notice received on the 2nd with one month's notice takes effect on the 30th or 31st of the following month, not the 2nd.
Art. 335c CO
Must I give reasons for the dismissal?
Not in the letter, but you must state the reasons in writing if the employee asks. The contract may be terminated freely, save for abuse: notice given because of a personal characteristic, because the employee asserts a claim in good faith, or without any attempt to avoid termination, can cost up to six months' salary.
Art. 335 and 336 CO, art. 336a CO
What if the illness begins after notice is sent?
The notice remains valid, but the period is suspended and resumes when the incapacity ends. If the period so extended does not end at the end of a month, it runs to the next term. This is the most frequent miscalculation, and the one we justify in writing in the file.
Art. 336c para. 2 and 3 CO
Going further
FAQ
Yes, on seven days' notice to the end of a working day unless otherwise agreed, and with no protected period. But a discriminatory dismissal remains abusive even during probation. We first check that the probation period running is valid: beyond three months it is not.
Only for good cause, meaning circumstances that make continuing the contract unconscionable in good faith. The bar is very high and the financial exposure the greatest in Swiss employment law. Tell us the case: if summary dismissal is defensible we will say so, otherwise we save you the mistake.
The employment reference, the final statement with the holiday balance and the pro rata thirteenth salary, the employer's certificate for the unemployment fund, and the information on occupational pension vesting. The file lists all of it with the amounts to calculate.
The law does not require it for an ordinary dismissal, but the absence of any warning weighs in assessing an abusive dismissal, especially after long service. The file states what it is prudent to document before sending the letter.
Yes, it is included: complete, truthful and benevolent under art. 330a CO, with no ambiguous coded wording, based on the role and duties you describe.
A question before ordering?
An ongoing incapacity for work, an old case, a doubt about the date: describe the situation here. Personal reply within two business days.
