i) if she quits her job i believe that entails an mandatory waiting period before she can sign up for chomage.

ii) if she's starting a new job then i doubt she'll be eligible for chomage (if she's starting a new job, why is she looking for chomage in the first place???)

iii) if she's no longer living in switzerland i highly doubt she can touch any chomage with previous 2 stipulations being true.

as far as i know, you need to have contributed 1 years worth in the last 18-24 months to be eligible and then you can sign up with the above mentioned caveat of if you decide to terminate your employment yourself. Any questions she can go to the office de population in Rive and ask there. Doesn't sound like it will be the case from what you described tho!

Hi Bola,

I understand that your friend quits her job to found her own company. Maybe she should check for financial support for entrepreneurs. I don't see the link to unemployment benefits in this case.

True as we have explored so much ideas in respect to her situation.

She is founding her own company, which will be registered outside Switzerland due to the operation domain. She is however not moving out of Switzerland, at least not for now. Since the operation domain of the company is outside Switzerland, financial support is ruled out. However, we all know that it takes few months if not years for business to really pick up, that is why the option of filling for unemployment comes in. At least she did contributed.

It would just be a bit relief for her not to worry about rental payment here in Switzerland while shuttling on & off to her new location...

Does that make any sense... ?

Regards, Bola

As long as I know if you are unemployed and you want to start your business, RAV should help you with max 3 months of payment, by considering the income deriving from your business as "additional income" (not 100% sure about this).

But at the same time because your friend quit her job she can get up to 60 days of penalties from RAV (that is 3 months). Finally is she already started her business she is not eligible for RAV anymore, cause clearly she is not unemployed. She should have applied before starting her business ....

what massimiliano sounds right. to check just stop by the office in rive and you can find out everything you need there. 

actually if she is starting her own company she has the right for 3 month and they will support her.. but i blieve it is only if its registered in the country...

What Massimiliano wrote is correct, Rav supports you if you start your own business but if the business is not in the country I doubt that. It wont hurt to ask RAV. They are very open to such questions and supportive. Good luck to your friend.

This will depend upon her legal basis for continued residency in Switzerland. If she had a residency permit based upon her job, she may be out of luck. Does she still have a permit? When does it expire? Much will depend upon her nationality. 

Unemployment compensation is insurance. If your permit runs out, you aren't necessarily qualified to say simply because you contributed to the system.

She may need to consult an immigration lawyer and get the answer before approaching the authorities depending upon time remaining in her permit, if she still has one.  

Good luck!

Hey Translator,

She is an EU citizen. Yes B-permit based on employment, and the parmit is still valid for another 2 years. If she is not qualified for unemployment benefit due to quiting by herself, and already started her business which is outside the country, would she be forced to relocate ???

Interesting twist in that direction...

Regards, Bola

I think she should go to a legal clinic and ask about her options if she does not want to relocate. There may be some way that she can claim that she is doing some of the business here in Switzerland or for example, that she has a business office here. 

In addition, people often continue looking for employment while they are getting their business fully off the ground. That can sometimes take some time. 

Ôn chommage here you have to proove that youre looking for more employment... or they dont pay you. Assuming she does eventually qualify for the benefit, it will only be for 250 days under new Swiss chommage rules. (400 days if she worked for 2yrs or more). They pay 70% of final salary up to a maximum of 10500 per month gross. However if they find out about the foreign company she wont be eligable at all.

Since the Co she is founding is outside of Switzerland she can possibly keep that quiet, and apply for Chommage, but since she quit her job, she will only recieve it after a set period as G stipulated.

What may be another option, is if she becomes self employed here in switzerland, she can use her pillar 2 or 3 pension contributions to inject into the Swiss company, which she can then forward to her overseas company, which can then send back money on a monthly basis as "fees" or "commissions" and hence pay her a salary This reduces the tax burden on her company and also pays her bills (assuming she has enough in the pension fund to fund herself).  However if she does this there will be NO chommage entitlements.

<<<Since the Co she is founding is outside of Switzerland she can possibly keep that quiet, and apply for Chommage, but since she quit her job, she will only recieve it after a set period as G stipulated.>>>

Excellent point Charlie. And, maybe a stupid question on my part... But, what if she did try to keep it quiet and the government found out she had started a company outside of the country. Could they demand the money back from her, or impose a fine? Are there any other dangers or risks she might incur by not being totally forthright?

KEN///

thats why I suggested a Swiss based Co.... it can have a trading agreement with the foreign one to allow the free flow of capital... she is then a registered "self employed person" or employee of the swiss co, depending on whether she has a proper company here Sa/Sarl etc, or just is "self employed".... it would help with visa/permit renewals too if its a bonafide sarl or better... there is nothing to stop a swiss company trading with partners outside of switzerland...  especially if the earnings/trade  are not actually in switz...

Alternatively, she could physically move out of switzerland, and take her pillar 2 /3 with her to invest... its transportable as far as I know. then there is no need for a swiss co, but as far as i understand she woudl prefer to carry on living here...

just throwing ideas up there... clearly the aim is for the lady in question to finance herself as she starts up her company elsewhere... claiming chommage whilst doing so I think would be considered as benefit fraud... since she would not technically be unemployed... that is certainly a risk if the authorities find out.

These are very good questions to raise. Her permit could be revoked if she is caught claiming unemployment benefit She could lose her permit if caught.  This is one of the reasons she really needs legal advice now.

I agree. I think we all want to offer her helpful advise. But, as you stated, it's best at this point, to have a pro guide her.

Thanks to all contributors...

This is indeed a difficult question for the forumites. I guess that Charlie's idea of pillars 2/3 might be the best suited option, with outright relocation, and of course a hard work in the new location so as not to miss Switzerland... ;)

I am sure that she must have done the calculation well enough to quit the Swiss paid job for a business outside the country.

Regards, Bola