I wonder if this is only in Lausanne or in all canton in Switzerland?
The wife of my colleague work in Lausanne, she is now taking maternal leave and she can get another 4 weeks of breast feeding leave.
No idea, but I just love the BF support
Some companies do offer it, paid. Mine did.
Law stipulates that you cannot force a breastfeeding mother to go back to work. So you can take an extended maternity leave, but you won't be paid for it. Some companies pay for an additional month providing you have a doctor's letter confirming that you do indeed breastfeed.
Moreover, if you have to leave your job during the day to go nurse the baby, half that time is taken from your working normal hours. Also in the law.
useful to know!
Brilliant sometimes the Swiss do have great ideas
Wish I'd known about this when I was b-feeding. I ended up expressing 3 times a day in the office bogs. Not exactly the fluffy view of motherhood I'd had in mind.
Commune assured my friend she is allowed to have 6 months paid maternity leave when she nurses. All she needed to have is a statement from the pediatrician. Bring it to the insurance company as well, some will give a chunk of cash, when I nursed it was 1500fr for nursing the child at least a year, again you will need a statement from the ped. Not sure if all insurers do this and if it is still done.
I agree, it's a great way to promote.
Though, coming from an overkill place with 4yr paid maternity leave and moms not being able to be legally fired when on maternity leave..
I realise I was very lucky. My 5th month was fully paid, and after that I went on going to nurse several times in the day, as the daycare was close to my workplace.
This probably explains why I was able to nurse both kids well into toddlerhood.
A link to that particular commune's conditions would be helpful.
Naw, Biel is a different commune, innit.
OP, just have your friend check the Health Dept in your local commune. Pediatricians also know well about the particular reimbursements and mat leave based on bf.
I can't find any reference to Biel being any different to the other cantons. The only one which is different is Geneva which offers 16 weeks instead of the standard 14 weeks maternity leave.
Breast-feeding seems to be the same across the board with employers being legally obliged to allow time out which is counted as "working time" or a pre-negotiated paid or unpaid extra month added to maternity leave but that depends on the employer, not the commune/gemeinde.
Perhaps your friend misinterpreted the commune's advice?
She got the info at her commune, went to her ped and employer, got 6 months. Canton Vaud. It was 4 months no nursing, or 6 months nursing. 2x with two kids, private company.
I know I could at my work as well, and it's not a private company, but as a state employee.
As a state employee myself, I'm entitled to 16 weeks fully paid (law enforces 80%), plus 4 additional weeks for breastfeeding.
But if I go on sick-leave before birth, the leave is reduced to 14 weeks.
This is what is listed in the FAQs of a SECO document:
SINCE I AM STILL BREAST-FEEDING SIX MONTHS AFTER GIVING BIRTH, I HAVE REMAINED AT HOME, AS I AM ENTITLED TO. MY EMPLOYERS HAVE HOWEVER USED THIS AS A REASON TO DISMISS ME. IS THIS LEGITIMATE?
Art. 9 GlG; Art. 336b OR (see part VI, paragraph 4, section b)
No. If notice was served on you because you are breast-feeding, it is a case of wrongful dismissal. Should you wish to dispute the decision, you must react to the dismissal in writing at the very latest before the notice period expires. If you cannot reach an agreement with your employers to continue the employment contract, you have a period of 180 days in which to bring a case before court and demand compensation, which can be up to six months salary.
It talks about dismissal which isn't the current issue, but does make mention of "as I am entitled to do". My understanding is you can stay home for 6 months, you just won't be paid for the entire leave if your employer doesn't usually pay for 6 months.
It's true.
You can't force a breastfeeding woman to go back to work and you can't fire her if she choses to stay home to breastfeed. BUT it's an unpaid leave.
Hmmm...It should be the same then, I wonder why it is not. I clearly remember not being too curious about it, since WHO promotes 6 months nursing, it seemed logical, I didn't even think it would be different in different cantons, communes, etc.
Exactly!
It strikes me that there is some confusion in the terminology and "protections" guaranteed to pregnant and nursing mothers. Firstly, the law mandates minimum standards only. There are many insurance providers for employers as well as employers themselves (the state is one of them) who offer very favourable conditions to pregnant employees and employees on maternity leave and/or nursing.
The minimum PAID leave is 14 weeks. The salary is covered by a branch of the national social securities and provided the mother has been gainfully employed and paid her social contributions for 9 months prior to giving birth, she will receive 14 weeks of pay. She may take up to 16 weeks (or rather cannot be fired for doing so) but the final 2 weeks are not paid. Unless of course, the employer and the employee have a different agreement in their contract (this can be standard or upon mutual agreement after she has fallen pregnant).
With regards to breast feeding, the law simply mandates that employers must give nursing mothers time off to nurse. This means that women who leave their place of work to "pop home and nurse" must be allowed to do so, cannot be fired for doing so, and half of the time they are absent is to count as work hours... There is a right therefore, to be given time to breast feed but not necessarily a right to stay home for an extra 2 months and receive salary. The second protection therefore is not payment BUT protection from being fired.
The SECO quote refers to being fired due to incurred absences as a result of breast feeding. An employer may not fire a woman who is absent from working if the reason for her absence is to nurse her child. But this has nothing to do with salary... It is simply classed as an unfair dismissle if that is the reason for the termination of the employment.
Hope that helps.
i am on a clocking system...if i leave during the day for something private (lunch, doctor's appointment, going to the bank etc) i have to clock out, and clock back in when i return to work. the good news is that it works both ways, so if i work more than my required weekly hours, i build up overtime that i can use towards extra vacation days. but i can imagine after having a baby that this will be quite tough to do...
so if i understand correctly, the time you are absent from work for nursing is only counted as half? so if i clock out for 2 hrs to go back and breastfeed, it should only be 1 hour off of my working hours?
where can i find this information in legal version??
thanks in advance!!
It would help if the info was all correct
So let me correct you with what the law says:
1) Minimum paid is 14 weeks at 80% pay with a cap at 196 CHF . Most big employers however pay 100% with no cap. Geneva has extended to 16 weeks.
2) You have to be working for 5 months of the 9 months pregnancy period and be employed at the time you give birth. However you need to be insured by the AVS/AHV during the whole 9 months.
3) The extra 2 weeks you talk about are nowhere in the law. Reference pls.
4) If you have the baby taken to you for breastfeeding at your place of work, then the full time used is your work time (no personal time).
http://www.admin.ch/opc/fr/classifie...192/index.html
What strikes ME, is that with your user name and the tone you use, it is honestly worrying to see so many errors and misinformations in your post
K
No where did I state FULL SALARY. I simply said paid leave. That Geneva has extended is not part of the same minimal standard FEDERAL LAW requirement.
I simply quoted the MINIMAL standards provided for under swiss federal law. I also never mention how much that pay will entail.
Art 336c para. 1 lit. c - an employee cannot be fired up to 16 weeks post partum
I'm not sure why the personal attack?
I gave basic information and tried to point out the differences between the protection from dismissal and actual maternity leave. Your post adds some details granted but I don't see where my information is incorrect.
Seriously - if you are going to bitchslap someone - stop agreeing with them.
1) Lawyerd made no mention of %s. Paid doesn't imply Full Pay
2) Lawyerd specially mentioned 9 months social contributions - which you then agree with. Lawyerd mentioned "gainful" employment - and not working - the 2 are different. Working would imply being the workplace. Gainful employment implies a contract of work - and not that it was carried out. The difference can be down to medical or unpaid leave
3) Damn - can't find it at the moment - will check codes later.
4) Lawyerd mentions being "absent from work" - this, from its reading, implies that the employee leaves the workplace to breastfeed. In the case of the child coming to the office this would not be the case.
So you have actually just reiterated what Lawyerd already said.
Useless fact of the day:
When you are pregnant DNA from the baby is transferred to the mother. This has been found to be lodged in the womans brain. So remember ladies, if anyone criticizes you post-natal for being a bit dizzy, remind them it is down to the male DNA you now have in your system