I agree with Mark. Go and get advice ASAP. There are a few loop holes which would mean that you have to pay all of the AHV etc. When I was writing the contracts for my staff I was advised by a lawyer that although technically I can put in some provision in the contract that the employee has to pay all of the AHV it was not advisable to do so. The employee could at any point turn round and sue me for it... Unfortunatly, a non-swiss employer can claim to be paying you a higher salary as compensation for the full AHV and then as far as I understand it you are stuck with it ...
1) The travel allowance has not yet been paid but they gave a projection of what would be charged and what would be left. So I can still try and kick up a fuss. (Although I have already and the brick wall keeps getting thicker).
2) What Lynn is saying about a non-Swiss employer is crucial, as the money comes from the EU but the EU does not give contracts so they say our employer contract is with the University.
So on this point I think I would also need exact legal advice.
3) I will contact your specialist Mark. I hope he also does email sessions...
4)
To Dave yes, you are right, it is a huge pain. I am a full time, full blown independent researcher, and the problem is not with the EU, it is with the employer, who decided they do not want to take risks with the tax office and therefore fully tax us.
What really upsets us (the scientists in this position) is that we wrote the grant, we created these jobs. We got money from the EU to come here, and we bring between 350.000 and 500.000 CHF into this country that largely goes to the university, to start a job that did not exist beforehand . This is how we get treated...
I'll give you a tip. Collect all your papers together. Have an idea of what you want to say then go and buy an hour of his time. Sit face to face and ask him your questions. Don't imagine that you are going to do "email sessions" with a lawyer. Firstly if he charges you for his time writing emails to me (which i guess he would) it would cost you a fortune, secondly it would be very inefficent! Remember he is a lawyer - not a forum.
Ok, so my family left me an envelope this morning with a card and some funny little 10 franc bills. The card was no help as it was in French but it basically said thank you. And the funny little money I've devised is reka money. I'm not complaining as she left me a pretty little bundle. (And does everything in this country come with a plastic carry case? Half card, stamps, bank notes, reka money...) Here's lies the problem, wtf is reka money?
It is money that you can use in certain outlets that show the REKA sign. For example the railway to buy tickets, BP and AVIA to buy petrol, certain travel agents to buy holidays... Go to reka.ch to check out where you can spend it...
It is from the Swiss monopoly set and you will be arrested if you try and use it... no seriously you can use to pay for trains, ski lifts and passes, fuel, holidays etc.
It is an employee benefit offered by quite a few companies. We can buy 1500chf worth per person for 1200chuffs per year, and the employer pays the delta but gets employment tax breaks.
You can use the reka checques like money, but I don't think everywhere. A friend of mine uses them when we go skiing to pay for her lift tickets. Other places surely accept them too.
It all makes sense to me now. Gosh this country is a little funny. Yet, I am already searching for ways to stay here when my permit expires....hmmm....
And if you buy reka-checks from the Coop, you get 3% discount. Not really a fantastic saving but if you are buying halbtax cards for the family, or a holiday then you can save a few francs.
I used to get them from work, 800 CHF for 1000 Reka. I used them all for petrol, so I always knew me petrol was 20% cheaper. Now I don't have the same employer anymore and I mourn the Reka loss.
Are you getting them through work or Reka, if through Reka how good is the deal?
This thread is old but I'd like to revive it with a question. My company offered me the standard 500 CHF Reka card for 400 CHF. You were allowed to spend up to 800 CHF, allowing for a 1000 CHF card.
I recently used the Reka card to buy a RT train ticket to Munich. The total cost of the trip was 104 CHF; however, when I paid with my Reka card it was 114 CHF. I have also thought that I noticed some extra charges when I used it for other rail trips, but I never asked about it.
Is there a charge for using the Reka card to buy rail tickets?
Certainly not, I use them all the time for paying rail tickets, holidays, hotels etc., in some case you are not allowed pay the full amount, but you should never end up paying more that the total cash price!