What is the care allowance and what does it include?
The care allowance for a child with a serious health condition is intended to support working parents in the form of a 14-week care leave.
The care allowance (the leave) can be taken at one time or by the day.
The care allowance can be taken during a period of 18 months. This period begins on the day on which the first daily allowance is taken.
As parents, you are free to divide the 14 weeks between you.
For example, one parent may receive 10 weeks and the other parent 4 weeks.
You can receive the care allowance (leave) separately or at the same time.
If you and the other parent take the leave at the same time, two daily allowances are paid per day (one for each parent).
When are you entitled to the care allowance?
Requirement for the parents:
You are employed
A child has a serious health condition if all the points below apply
Serious change in physical or mental condition
The course or outcome of the change is difficult to predict, or permanent or increasing impairment or death must be expected
Increased need for care by parents
The child is a minor (under 18 years old)
At least one parent is forced to interrupt gainful employment to care for the child
A disability or ailment due to birth (birth defect) in itself is not considered a serious health condition. Therefore, there is no entitlement to the care allowance if the health condition of the impaired child is stable.
Application for care allowance
Please fill in the application form
Point 6 “Details for salary” is filled in by Coople, i.e., you do not have to fill this in
Item 10 “Medical certificate pursuant to Article 16o EOG” must be completed by the child's attending physician
If you have several employers:
You can submit the forms to the employer where you have worked the most during the last 9 months.
You have to indicate this in the application form under point 5.1 “You are currently employed by a business establishment”,
and have to send the supplementary sheet per additional employer to us (see link below).
If you are self-employed and employed at the same time:
The compensation office with which you pay the contributions for self-employment is responsible in this case.
You are a step-parent/foster parent
You can find more information under the following link on page 4
Please include the following additional documents (one copy). You can find more information in the application form.
Your identity document (identity card, passport)
Your spouse’s identity document (identity card, passport)
Birth certificate of the child or family record book (parents and children)
Only official documents issued by a civil registry office are accepted. Confirmations from the hospital or the doctor are not sufficient!
If you have a foreign passport
Residence permit or identity document for foreign nationals (“Ausländerausweis”)
If you are married, please also include your spouse’s residence permit
A person is only entitled to helplessness allowance as long as they have their residence and habitual abode in Switzerland.
Attach all required documents.
Save a copy for yourself.
Send all documents to payroll.ch@coople.com.
We will complete the document and send it to our compensation office for review.
If the decision is positive, you will receive the care allowance directly from our compensation office.
Were you unemployed at the time of your child’s birth?
Unemployed persons and persons who are not in gainful employment have to submit the application to the cantonal compensation office in your place of residence. With the monthly follow-up notification, you also report to the compensation office how many days of leave you have taken.
How much is the care allowance?
The compensation amounts to 80% of the average earned income before the beginning of entitlement. However, the maximum amount is CHF 220 per day.