Leaving your Swiss job: the calendar, and the four files your departure opens

Leaving a Swiss job as a cross-border worker is not just a matter of writing a letter. It starts a calendar that follows a counter-intuitive rule, and at the same time opens four files that only make themselves felt later — pension, permit, health insurance and tax.

This guide covers voluntary departure: resignation, termination by mutual agreement, termination during the trial period. If it is the employer who ends the contract, the protection rules and the benefits differ: see our guide on dismissal in Switzerland.

In this guide:

• 1. What exactly is your notice period?
• 2. Resignation, mutual agreement, trial period: what changes?
• 3. What does a voluntary departure change for benefits?
• 4. Which files does your departure open?
• 5. What should your final pay include?
• 6. Which deadlines and amounts should you remember?
• 7. Frequently asked questions

1. What exactly is your notice period?

After the trial period, the statutory notice periods depend on length of service and expire at the end of a month, unless the contract provides otherwise (CO, art. 335c).

Statutory periods applicable unless the contract provides otherwise (CO, art. 335c).

It is the date of receipt by the employer that counts, not the date of sending. An oral resignation is valid, but it cannot be proved: writing remains strongly advisable (CO, art. 335).

A fixed-term contract, for its part, ends on the agreed date and cannot in principle be terminated before its term, except by agreement between the parties or immediate termination for good cause (CO, art. 334 and 337).

2. Resignation, mutual agreement, trial period: what changes?

The trial period lasts one month by default, and three months at most where the contract, a standard contract or a collective agreement provides for it. Notice is seven calendar days, for both parties (CO, art. 335b).

Termination by mutual agreement has an obvious advantage — leaving before the end of the notice period — and a drawback often discovered afterwards: it is as a rule classed as a voluntary departure by the authority of your country of residence. The flexibility is therefore paid for at the moment you need it most.

3. What does a voluntary departure change for benefits?

This consequence does not play out in Switzerland, but in your country of residence: a cross-border worker who is fully unemployed is paid benefits by their country of residence, not by Swiss unemployment insurance.

And a voluntary departure does not open the same entitlements as an involuntary job loss, with consequences that vary by country. They range from a simple deferral to an outright refusal of benefits: in France, a resignation, like a termination by mutual agreement, in principle opens no entitlement — the latter not being treated as a French rupture conventionnelle.

The benefit rules, short-time working cases and appeals are set out in our guide on dismissal for cross-border workers.

4. Which files does your departure open?

The end of the contract opens four files, three of which carry a deadline.

The second pillar: what is available, and what is not

This is a common confusion. Leaving a Swiss job does not release your pension assets: they are transferred to a vested benefits account or policy. Release only occurs in the cases provided by law (Vested Benefits Act, arts 5 and 25f) — and definitively ceasing all activity subject to Swiss occupational pension while residing in an EU or EFTA country, the case of a cross-border worker who stops working in Switzerland, is one of them, but only partly: only the extra-mandatory portion is then immediately available, the mandatory portion staying locked until five years before the reference age. Simply changing Swiss employer gives access to nothing.

The G permit survives a change of employer, not the end of activity

Contrary to a widespread idea, the cross-border permit does not fall away at the first change of employer: if you move straight to another job in Switzerland, it remains valid until it expires, and it is the new employer who reports the change to the cantonal population office, for a fee. Since the G permit authorises gainful activity, its validity depends on the contract underpinning it: if you stop working in Switzerland altogether, have your situation confirmed by the cantonal authority rather than assuming. See our guide to the G permit.

Health insurance: a change of employer reopens nothing

The right of option between the Swiss LAMal and your country of residence's scheme is in principle irrevocable, and a new Swiss contract following directly on from the previous one does not reopen it — this holds whatever the country. Between France and Switzerland, only three situations reopen it: taking up Swiss employment again after a period covered by benefits, moving from Switzerland to France, and retiring on an exclusively Swiss pension. The deadline to exercise the new choice is then three months. The other neighbouring countries have a comparable right of option, but reopening conditions of their own: check with your insurance body. See our guide on changing a cross-border worker's health insurance.

Withholding tax: two procedures, one deadline

Leaving mid-year changes the base taxed at source. Two separate procedures allow you to revisit it: correcting the rate scale, if the one applied was wrong, and the subsequent ordinary assessment, which allows actual expenses to be deducted. Both are filed before 31 March of the following year (FTA, tax at source), a forfeiture deadline after which nothing can be recovered.

That deadline applies to anyone taxed at source in Switzerland. Filing arrangements, however, are cantonal: our guide sets out the Geneva procedure, which does not transfer as it stands to other cantons.

5. What should your final pay include?

The last payment is not limited to the month's salary. Four items are worth checking line by line before leaving:

• untaken holiday, to be used during the notice period or paid out: the law guarantees at least 4 weeks a year, 5 up to the age of 20, pro rata for an incomplete year (CO, art. 329a);
• overtime, paid with a supplement of at least 25% when it is not compensated by time off, unless a written agreement, standard employment contract or collective agreement provides otherwise (CO, art. 321c) — beyond the maximum working time set by the Labour Act, other rules apply, explained in our guide on overtime —, and the flexitime balance;
• the pro-rata 13th salary, where contractual;
• outstanding expense claims.

The employment reference is due on request, and the employer cannot refuse it (CO, art. 330a). Ask for it before you leave: it is far harder to obtain once contact is broken.

6. Which deadlines and amounts should you remember?

7. Frequently asked questions

What notice period applies when resigning in Switzerland?

After the trial period, the statutory periods are one month during the first year, two months from the second to the ninth, and three months from the tenth, unless the contract provides otherwise (CO, art. 335c). Notice expires at the end of a month. This information is provided for guidance only and does not constitute personalised legal advice.

When does the notice period start running?

From receipt of the letter by the employer, and it must end on the last day of a month. With one month's notice, a letter received on 31 March frees you on 30 April; received on 1 April, it frees you only on 31 May. It is the date of receipt that counts, hence handing it over against a signed receipt or sending it by registered post.

Can you resign during the trial period?

Yes, with seven calendar days' notice, valid for both parties. The trial period lasts one month by default and three months at most where the contract, a standard contract or a collective agreement provides for it (CO, art. 335b). No reason has to be given, unless the other party asks in writing.

What is the risk of leaving without notice?

Abandoning your post exposes you to compensation equal to a quarter of a month's salary, which a court may reduce, without prejudice to further damages if established (CO, art. 337d). The employment reference remains due, but the relationship suffers.

Is a cross-border worker who resigns entitled to unemployment benefits?

A fully unemployed cross-border worker is paid by their country of residence, not by Swiss unemployment insurance, and the consequences of a voluntary departure vary by country: they range from a simple deferral to a refusal of benefits. In France, a resignation, like a termination by mutual agreement, in principle opens no entitlement. Classification rests with the competent authority: ask before signing, since a signed termination cannot be reclassified.

Is termination by mutual agreement better than resigning?

It is more flexible, since the end date is negotiated and can precede the end of the notice period. But it is as a rule classed as a voluntary departure by the authority of your country of residence, just like a resignation — and it is not equivalent to a French rupture conventionnelle. The advantage is one of timing, not of entitlement.

What happens to my second pillar when I leave my Swiss job?

It leaves the employer's fund for a vested benefits account or policy. Release only occurs in the cases provided by law; where you definitively cease all activity subject to Swiss occupational pension while residing in an EU or EFTA country, only the extra-mandatory portion is immediately available, the mandatory portion staying locked until five years before the reference age. Simply changing Swiss employer gives access to nothing. Tell your former fund where to send the assets: otherwise, it pays them to the substitute institution no earlier than six months and no later than two years after you leave (Vested Benefits Act, art. 4(2)).

Does my G permit stay valid after I leave?

If you move straight to another Swiss employer, yes: the permit remains valid until it expires, and it is your new employer who reports the change to the cantonal population office, for a fee. If you stop working in Switzerland altogether, the answer is not self-evident: the G permit authorises gainful activity and its validity depends on the contract underpinning it. Have your situation confirmed by the cantonal authority.

Do I still have a tax step to take after leaving?

Two procedures remain open until 31 March of the following year: correcting the rate scale, if it was wrong, and requesting a subsequent ordinary assessment, which allows actual expenses to be deducted. This is a forfeiture deadline: after it, nothing can be recovered. Since leaving mid-year changes the taxed base, this check is all the more worthwhile.

A final salary in francs, spending elsewhere?

Final pay is often the largest payment of the year: salary, untaken holiday and the pro-rata 13th all land together. That is precisely when the gap between two exchange rates shows, and when it will not be made back the following month.

Rules specific to the country of residence (unemployment, health insurance) and to the canton (filing withholding tax claims) are detailed, with their sources, in the guides linked in sections 3 and 4.

This article is provided for information only and constitutes neither legal advice, nor tax advice, nor personalised advice. Individual situations and contractual clauses differ: for a decision that commits you, have your contract reviewed by a professional or by the competent authority.