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Several cases of illness within a short period of time were enough for daily benefit insurance companies to cancel the policies or increase the premiums.
Employers are obliged to continue to pay employees wages when they are sick, at least for a limited period of time. The duration depends on the year of service and the respective canton. In the first year it is three weeks, in the 21st year of service it is six months.
Daily sickness benefit insurance offers better protection. They cover wage payments for a longer period of time if employees become ill and are absent. As a rule, the insurance pays between 80 and 90 percent of the last salary for a maximum of 730 days.
Without insurance, the substance is at risk
“Helvetiarockt” has opted for better wage protection and taken out daily allowance insurance for its employees. Regula Frei, co-managing director of the association, says: “Everyone works part-time for us. Wages in the music industry are low. If someone is sick and then a part falls away, then the substance becomes important.” The association is committed to diversity in the music world and employs around a dozen people.
The club paid bonuses for around ten years. When an employee fell ill with cancer and two others were unable to work after the corona pandemic, the insurance company canceled the contract due to “high claims”. Regula Frei criticizes this: Daily sickness benefit insurance must offer security to both employees and employers.
Long-time customers will be asked to pay
Peter Marti, managing director of “Marti Communications”, had similar experiences. With the insurance he can cover the obligation to continue paying wages for his company with 18 employees: “If someone has a burnout that lasts six months or up to two years, then that is difficult for a company to cope with.” After several cases of illness in his team, the insurance company tripled the premiums to around 26,000 francs. Peter Marti criticizes that the company has been a customer of the insurance company for eleven years, but the insurance company only looks at the last three years.
Gaps in the legislation
According to Kurt Pärli, professor of private social law at the University of Basel, this approach is permissible: “Daily sickness benefit insurance is private insurance and makes full use of the legal scope. The problem is the incomplete legislation.”
Stephan Kink’s company operates in the area of caretaker services. He also received cancellation of his insurance. In this industry, the collective employment agreement (GAV) requires daily sick pay insurance. Without this, Stephan Kink’s company would have to pay for lost wages like daily sickness benefit insurance, i.e. 80 percent of wages, for two years.
Parliament is required
The loss of insurance is therefore a threat to the existence of the managing director of “Kink Haus Maintenance”: “If there are cases like that that I have had recently and no insurance covers it, then we can close the shop.”
All three entrepreneurs tried to resolve the situation with new insurers. However: As a company with a “high loss ratio”, no insurer wants to include you in a collective daily sickness benefit insurance policy.
“Parliament is required to pass laws that extend insurance coverage to all employees,” says Professor Kurt Pärli. A mandatory policy, as demanded by Center National Councilor Marco Romano, is going in the right direction.