Accident insurance is one of the broadest protections in the Swiss system, and one of the least known among the people it protects. It is governed by the federal law on accident insurance, known as the UVG in German and the LAA in French, and it does not depend on a contract you chose: it follows from your employment situation.
Who is insured, and by whom
The UVG/LAA compulsorily insures employees working in Switzerland. The group covered is wider than employees in the everyday sense: it includes, in particular, apprentices, trainees and unemployed people who meet the conditions of unemployment insurance.
Self-employed people and members of their family working in the business are not compulsorily insured. The law does, however, give them the option of insuring themselves voluntarily — a step that has to be taken, and that does not happen by itself.
People without gainful employment are not covered by the UVG/LAA. For them, the accident risk stays within basic health insurance (KVG/LAMal).
Occupational and non-occupational accidents
The law distinguishes three risks: occupational accidents, non-occupational accidents and occupational diseases. An occupational accident is one that happens while carrying out work ordered by the employer, or during breaks in work at the workplace. A non-occupational accident is, essentially, everything else: the weekend, sport, home, holidays.
The eight-hour threshold
This is the most important practical point in this article, and the one many part-time workers are unaware of. The accident insurance ordinance (UVV/OLAA) provides that part-time employees who work for one employer at least eight hours a week are also insured against non-occupational accidents.
This situation affects a lot of people: small part-time jobs, side jobs, seasonal work. The Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) states that people working fewer than eight hours a week are not compulsorily insured under the UVG/LAA against non-occupational accidents. Their occupational accidents remain covered, commute included; it is their private life that is not, and that part then falls to basic health insurance.
Who pays the premiums
The split is set by law, not by custom: the employer pays the premiums for insurance against occupational accidents and occupational diseases, while the premiums for non-occupational accident insurance are in principle borne by the employee. An arrangement more favourable to the employee remains possible.
That is why a deduction labelled “AANP” (“NBU” in German) appears on many Swiss payslips.
What benefits exist
The UVG/LAA provides benefits in kind and cash benefits. The former cover medical treatment. The latter replace income or compensate for lasting harm.
- The daily allowance, paid when you are unable to work: it amounts to 80% of insured earnings in the event of total incapacity, and starts on the third day after the day of the accident.
- The invalidity pension, when the accident leaves a lasting disability: it amounts to 80% of insured earnings in the event of total invalidity, and is reduced proportionally in the event of partial invalidity.
- The compensation for impairment of integrity, which makes up for a lasting and significant impairment of physical or mental integrity.
- The helplessness allowance, when the person needs the help of others for everyday activities.
- Survivors' pensions, in the event of death.
For survivors, the law sets rates: the pension is 40% of insured earnings for the surviving spouse, 15% for a child who has lost one parent, and 25% for a child who has lost both parents. Survivors' pensions as a whole are capped at 70% of insured earnings.
How this fits with health insurance
The KVG/LAMal allows cover for the accident risk in basic insurance to be suspended for as long as the insured person is fully covered for that risk, compulsorily, under the UVG/LAA. The health insurer must draw the insured person's attention to this option in writing when they join.
This suspension assumes that the UVG/LAA cover really is complete. The FOPH explicitly warns: someone working fewer than eight hours a week should not suspend accident cover in their basic insurance, since their non-occupational accidents are not covered by the UVG/LAA.
What depends on the situation, and what this article cannot tell you
The rates above are the ones set by law. What they amount to in francs depends on insured earnings, the recognised degree of incapacity, the date of the event and the medical assessment of the case. No general information makes it possible to calculate what a person will receive.
In the event of invalidity or death, other schemes may also be involved, notably invalidity insurance (IV/AI) and occupational pensions (BVG/LPP), and coordination rules apply between them. The UVG/LAA provides, for example, a supplementary pension when an AHV/AVS or IV/AI pension is also paid. These mechanisms are technical and depend on the case.