Maternity / Paternity leave

As an employee, you have the right to four months of paid maternity leave upon the protected page birth of your child, irrespective of how long you have been working at ETH. Make sure you discuss your maternity leave with your supervisor as early as possible taking into account any business needs. Maternity leave usually begins from the day of your child’s birth. However, it can also be taken at another time or in a different way:

• You may go on maternity leave one month before the baby is due at the earliest.
• If you would like to return to work on a reduced level of employment from the ninth week after your baby is born, your maternity leave will be extended accordingly.

If your job is financed via second-party or third-party funds (e.g. the Swiss National Science Foundation), you are likewise entitled to four months of maternity leave.

Extending your maternity leave

If you would like to extend your maternity leave, you can discuss this possibility with your supervisor, taking into account any business needs, as long as you are on an employment contract which is not under notice of termination. This extension can be taken as holidays, compensation or Download unpaid leave (PDF, 90 KB) (German).

The Download discussion guidelines (PDF, 175 KB) will help you to plan your maternity leave.

During your four months of maternity leave, you will receive your 100% salary according to your level of employment regardless of how long you have worked at ETH. The statutory compensatory income deficit payment (EO) is made to ETH.

A male employee of the ETH Domain is granted 20 days of paternity leave after the birth of his child.

If both parents work in the ETH Domain, they may divide the four months of maternity leave between them, the father being entitled to a maximum of two months.

Please announce the birth of your child/children as soon as possible via ETHIS.

In the case of adoption of an infant or a handicapped child of any age, the parent employed by ETH is entitled to two months of fully paid leave. If both adoptive parents work in the ETH Domain, they may divide up the two months of paid leave between them.

Insurance cover remains unchanged during maternity leave.

If you take further unpaid leave after your normal maternity leave, please note the following:

• During the first month of unpaid leave, insurance benefits remain unchanged. From the second month onwards, you as the employee will have to include accident cover in your private health insurance policy or take out SUVA interim accident insurance by special agreement.
• With regard to the pension fund, you can choose one of the following options:
  
  • Full insurance (you as the employee also pay the employer’s contributions)
  • Risk insurance (no accrual of retirement capital; the insurance only covers the risk of disability or death)
  • No insurance (no accrual of retirement capital; no insurance cover)

Holiday entitlement remains unchanged during the four months of maternity leave and no reductions in entitlement are made.

In the case of longer absences (three months or more) due to illness during pregnancy, holiday entitlement may be reduced (see Art. 51 paragraph 7 of the Download ETH Personnel Ordinance (PDF, 1.4 MB) (German)). This directive does not apply to absence during maternity leave.

According to Art. 52 of the Download Personnel Ordinance (ETH-PO) (PDF, 1.4 MB), paid leave is granted for the care of sick persons in one's own household, as well as for the first care and organisation of further care for one's own parents, provided that no other care option is available. The paid leave covers the time required, up to 3 days per event.

As a parent or guardian, you are also entitled to take five days of working time per calendar year to deal with important educational matters or attend medical appointments for children under the age of 16.

Consult with your supervisor when an extraordinary situation occurs.

In Art. 52 Para. 2 ETH-PO you will find further events which are counted as working time.