Bad weather compensation (SWE)

Unemployment Insurance Division (ALV) is a Bureau of the Labor Division within the Office of Economic Affairs (AVW).

Bad weather compensation is a type of benefit provided by the Unemployment Insurance Division (UI) that serves to prevent unemployment and preserve jobs. Bad weather compensation helps companies in certain sectors to bridge temporary weather-related absences from work.

Weather-related short-time work can be approved and compensated from December 1 to December 23 and from January 7 to March 15, provided that the weather-related short-time work is reported and settled in good time.

An entitlement to bad weather compensation arises at the earliest with the notification of an actual loss of working hours. Proper notification is therefore a prerequisite for the approval and subsequent payment of bad weather compensation.

The required notification of weather-related short-time working must be made per work/construction site and per month in the following two steps:

  1. the ALV must be notified of the start of the first loss of working hours on the same day. The notification is informal and can be made by telephone to + 423 236 68 75, by e-mail to [email protected] or in writing to the Office of Economic Affairs, Unemployment Insurance Division, P.O. Box 684, 9490 Vaduz.

  2. the form "Notification of weather-related absence from work " must be completed, signed and submitted to the ALV by the 10th day of the following calendar month at the latest after the start of the first absence from work previously reported. The form must be sent together with the completed "Employee consent" form to the e-mail address [email protected].

Notifications submitted after the deadline are considered late and will result in no entitlement to bad weather compensation.

 

The employer shall assert the compensation claim of its employees with the AVW within three months of the end of each payroll period for the company as a whole. Once the three-month period has expired, any claim to bad weather compensation for the respective payroll period is forfeited. The receipt of the e-mail by the Office of Economic Affairs is decisive for compliance with the deadline.

A settlement period is defined as a period of one calendar month. Accordingly, the information always refers to the entire billing month. The following documents must be available or submitted for each billing period to ensure proper billing:

Website under revision - link to the billing form will follow in December.

1. Form "Notification of weather-related loss of working hours"

A separate, fully completed and signed notification form must be submitted for each work/construction site for the relevant accounting period. This must have been submitted in advance by the 10th day of the following calendar month at the latest.

2. "Employee consent" form

The "Employee consent" form must be submitted. This must be submitted together with the registration form. If other employees were affected by weather-related short-time working during the season, their consent must be submitted in the following month.

3.payroll form together with application and report on lost hours

The Excel file "Settlement form" must be downloaded and completed. The application form and the lost hours report as part of the settlement form must be printed out individually, signed and submitted as a PDF file together with the Excel file "Settlement form" by e-mail to [email protected].

The bad weather compensation claimed can only be checked and calculated once the Office of Economic Affairs has received all three forms.

Checklist for bad weather compensation applications

  • Start 1st report of work stoppage per work/construction site and per month
  • Submit form "Notification of weather-related absence from work" per work/construction site and per month by the 10th day of the following calendar month at the latest
  • Submit the "Employee consent" form

  • Submit payroll form as an Excel file

  • Submit printed application form as part of the payroll statement

  • Submit a printed report of lost hours as part of the payroll statement

Please note that compliance with the statutory reporting and settlement deadlines is mandatory for an entitlement to bad weather compensation. Late notifications and settlements will result in the entitlement to bad weather compensation lapsing.

The FAQs are not legally binding; they merely serve to summarize frequently asked questions.
We can only provide you with binding information once we have received all the necessary documents and completed our case-by-case assessment.

Bad weather compensation can be paid in the following occupations:

  • Bricklayers, carpenters, plasterers, roofers;
  • Quarry and gravel quarry workers;
  • Road builders, pavers;
  • Stonemasons;
  • Pavers;
  • Landscape gardeners;
  • Plumbers;
  • Sewer cleaners;
  • Water and avalanche engineers;
  • Rüfearbeiter;
  • Forestry workers, unless they work in the secondary branch of an Agriculture business.

A loss of working hours is chargeable if:

  • it is caused exclusively by the weather;
  • it has lasted at least three full working days;
  • the continuation of work is impossible or economically unreasonable or cannot reasonably be expected of the employees;
  • it takes place in the period from December 1 to 23 and from January 7 to March 15;

Only full or half days are taken into account.

A waiting period of two waiting days is generally deducted from the qualifying loss of working hours for each payroll period (calendar month). It is not necessary to make a separate entry on the payroll form; this is automatically taken into account in the S column. For these two days, the employer owes the employee the full salary according to the employment contract.

In principle, all employees liable to pay contributions who are in an employment relationship that has not been terminated, have not yet reached AHV retirement age and are employed for an indefinite period at a fixed workload are eligible.

Persons who:

  • are in an apprenticeship;
  • are employed by an organization for temporary work;
  • are in a fixed-term employment relationship;
  • are already drawing an AHV pension or have reached the normal retirement age;
  • are in a terminated employment relationship;
  • in their capacity as shareholders, as financially involved in the company or as members of a supreme company decision-making body, can determine or significantly influence the employer's decisions, as well as their spouses who work for the company.

Yes, SWE can be claimed for hourly-paid employees in the same way as for monthly-paid employees, provided the following conditions are met: In principle, employees are only entitled to compensation for bad weather if they have contractually agreed working hours or if the workload in an on-call employment contract shows only minor fluctuations and proof can therefore be provided that the loss of working hours can be taken into account.

The employer is obliged to pay the bad weather compensation in advance and to pay the affected employee 80% of the eligible loss of earnings on the regular payday. The compensation for bad weather corresponds to 60% of the actual proven loss of earnings.

During short-time working, the employer must pay the full statutory and contractually agreed social security contributions in accordance with the normal working hours. The employer is entitled to deduct the employee's full share of contributions from their salary, unless otherwise agreed.

The employer is obliged to keep the originals of all forms and documents that are relevant for the registration and settlement of bad weather compensation for five years and to submit them to the Office of Economic Affairs (AVW) on request. The AVW is entitled to carry out or arrange for an inspection to be carried out at the employer's premises at any time during the retention period.

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