What are family allowances?
Family allowances are intended to partially compensate the maintenance costs of children and young people in education or vocational training. A distinction is made between:
Child allowance
from birth until the age of 16
or until entitlement to the education allowance, if an entitlement to this exists before the age of 16
Education allowance
education/vocational training after compulsory schooling
from age 15 at the earliest
until completion of education/vocational training, but no later than the age of 25
Who is entitled to family allowance?
If several short Coople job contracts – possibly with interruptions – follow one another, family allowances are granted without interruption from the first day of employment to the last day of employment, provided that the minimum monthly income of CHF 612 is reached.
If you earn less, our compensation office will check whether you meet the legal requirements for family allowances.
If you have several employers in addition to Coople, your wages will be added together. The employer who pays the highest salary is responsible for the family allowance. That’s why it is important for you to indicate all employers.
If the co-parent of your child has a permanent job, it may be worthwhile to apply for family allowances through their compensation office.
If you receive daily allowances from the unemployment insurance, you are not entitled to family allowances under the Swiss Family Allowances Act (Familienzulagengesetz). However, you will receive a supplement to your daily unemployment benefit from the unemployment insurance, which corresponds to the child or education allowances of your canton of residence.
Family allowances can be claimed up to 5 years later.
Children living abroad
Special provisions apply here. If the children live in the EU or EFTA, the family allowance can be exported (i.e., paid out). If the family allowances of the parent living in the EU or EFTA are higher than your salary in Switzerland, you can apply for a differential payment.
Our compensation office will initiate the process with the foreign authorities by receiving the completed application form for family allowances, including details of the other parent/partner.
If the children or young people in education or vocational training live outside the EU/EFTA, no export takes place.
Registration for family allowance
Please fill in the below registration form and send it together with all documents (the form and the additional documents) to payroll.ch@coople.com so that we can check your entitlement to child benefit.
See what applies to you and attach the relevant documents:
You hold a Swiss passport
Marriage certificate
Birth certificate of the child OR family record book (parents and children)
You, as a parent, hold a foreign passport
Residence permit or foreigner's identity card
Marriage certificate
Your child has a foreign passport and lives in Switzerland
Residence permit or foreigner's identity card
Birth certificate of the child
Your child lives abroad
Current confirmation from the competent office for child benefits in the country of residence of the children
Please read the section "Children living abroad".
You are a single parent
Birth certificate of the child
Confirmation of joint parental care
Acknowledgement of paternity
You are divorced or separated from the mother/father of the child
Excerpt from the divorce or separation decree concerning custody / guardianship rights
Your child is over 16 years old
Current confirmation of education (after the start of school)
OR medical certificate if the child is unable to work (incapacity to work)
You receive other benefits
Confirmation from the benefit provider (IV, ALV, UVG, KTG, MSE)
Documents that are not written in one of the Swiss national languages must be translated by a recognised translator.
It is important that the form is completely filled out and signed when you return it to us and that all necessary documents are included. Only complete applications can be submitted. Otherwise, your request will be rejected by the AHV office.
Our mailing address is:
Coople (Switzerland) AG
Division Finance & Payroll
Albisriederstrasse 253
CH-8047 Zurich
As soon as we have received your documents, we will submit your application to the AHV office.
If your application is successful, you will receive the family allowance from Coople in the following month.
The monthly procedure
We send your payslip to the compensation office.
The compensation office calculates the family allowance based on the days you have worked.
As soon as we receive their decision on the allowance, we pay you the family allowance with your salary.
Calculation
The family allowance is calculated per day and per rate of the number of hours you have worked in the company (or companies).
All months are calculated with 30 days. One day corresponds to 1/30 of the monthly allowance. Saturdays, Sundays and holidays are also included in the calculation.
The calculated allowance is based on the regulations of the canton of Zurich where the headquarters of Coople (Schweiz) AG are located.