Statutory Protection Periods (Art. 336c CO)#
Dismissals communicated by the employer during pregnancy and within 16 weeks after delivery are null and void. If notice was given prior to pregnancy, the notice period is suspended and extended accordingly.
The Probationary Period Exception#
Protection under Art. 336c CO does not apply during the probationary period, though terminations motivated solely by pregnancy can be contested under the Swiss Gender Equality Act (GEA).
Paid Maternity Leave and Federal Benefits (EO / MSE)#
Under federal law, working mothers are entitled to a minimum of 14 weeks (98 days) paid maternity leave, compensated at 80% of average earnings (capped at CHF 220 per day), with many collective agreements offering 16 weeks at 100%.
Statutory Workplace Safeguards and Nursing Breaks#
A complete ban on employment applies during the first 8 weeks postpartum. Nursing mothers are entitled to paid feeding breaks under the Swiss Labour Act.
Protection of Holiday Entitlements#
Employers are legally prohibited under Art. 329b para. 3 CO from reducing annual leave entitlements due to maternity leave or pregnancy-related absences under two months.
Worked example: protected period and notice period#
Protection against dismissal during pregnancy and maternity is not only a prohibition, it is a question of timing. Two periods run in parallel, and how they interact decides whether a termination is valid:
- Protected period. Under Art. 336c para. 1 lit. c of the Swiss Code of Obligations (OR), a termination during the entire pregnancy and in the 16 weeks after childbirth is null and void.
- Notice period stands still. If notice is given before the protected period begins and the notice period runs into the protected period, it stands still during that time and continues afterwards. This does not make the termination invalid – it is postponed.
- Maternity leave. Paid leave amounts to 14 weeks at 80 % of salary through the loss-of-earnings compensation scheme. It is not identical with the 16-week protected period.
In practice this means: whoever gives notice in the third month of pregnancy triggers a period which, depending on the contract, ends only after the protected period has expired. That is not a formality but the reason why separations at this stage are often settled by mutual agreement.
After the 16 weeks: what applies again#
When the protected period ends, the special protection ends. From that point on, ordinary termination is possible again and the normal periods of the contract apply.
- Return. If the employment contract continues, you are entitled to your position at the agreed workload percentage – a change requires your consent.
- Reduction of workload. A reduction you wish for after the leave should be requested in writing early; there is no general statutory entitlement to a specific reduction, but there are rules on part-time requests which you can examine.
- Breastfeeding. Special working-time rules apply during breastfeeding; the company must make breastfeeding breaks possible.
- Dismissal after the return. A termination shortly after the return is permissible, but it must be supportable by objective grounds if it is to withstand judicial review.
Anyone who plans the return in writing – date, workload percentage, duties – avoids the most common disappointment: an arrangement agreed verbally which nobody remembers three months later.