Partial revision of the Personnel Ordinance, effective 1 January 2022

Full summary of changes to the Personnel Ordinance, effective 1 January 2022

Read more information on the changes here. Detailed explanations on the amendments to the ETH PO that come into effect on 1 January 2022 can be found Downloadhere (PDF, 226 KB)vertical_align_bottom.

Most important changes at a glance

The most important changes to the partially revised Personnel Ordinance, effective 1 January 2022, are summarised below.

Paternity leave: increased from 10 to 20 working days

On 1 January 2021 Switzerland introduced paternity leave of 10 days. As of 1 January 2022, the government is increasing paternity leave to 20 working days and extending it to same-sex couples.

This 20-day paid leave applies to both adoptive parents and new parents in a registered civil partnership.

Option for women to choose to work up to age 65

Female staff wishing to work beyond official retirement age can now choose whether to continue their employment relationship under the same terms until their 65th birthday at the latest. They must give written notice of their intention to do so no later than six months before their 64th birthday.

Employment beyond official retirement age

Demographic trends mean many older people are able to work for longer and the labour market is changing, so more flexible rules on retirement are needed.

As before, it is possible for employees to continue working beyond official retirement age up their 70th birthday. Their line managers must submit an application for this extension, giving the reasons why it is necessary for ETH Zurich. Any extension is for the purposes of a limited bridging period and must not prevent new appointments to the post.

Loyalty premium for 5 years of service no longer applies

Following a condition imposed by the federal government, the loyalty premium for employees celebrating 5 years of service has to be scrapped. Employees who have reached 5 years of service on 1 January 2022 will receive the loyalty premium. The other anniversaries remain unchanged.

Bridging pension in connection with early retirement

The ETH PO had to be amended in order to meet the Federal Council’s requirement that the ordinance be harmonised with the regulations of the Federal Administration.

Tight restrictions have been imposed on the group entitled to receive a bridging pension, the earliest age for drawing the pension at 62, as well as the proportion of funding provided by the employer.

In order to ensure that early retirement – both under the social plan and in the case of mutually agreed termination of employment – is still possible from the age of 60, various articles regulating benefits in the case of consensual termination of employment will be amended.

The following transitional ruling applies: Employees who reach the age of 59 before 1 January 2022, and take early retirement no later than 1 January 2025, can claim the bridging pension under existing regulations.

Occupational disability pension to be abolished

The federal government has already abolished the occupational disability pension as of 1 January 2020 and has imposed the condition that it also be removed from the ETH PO. Due to today's improved integration and retraining measures, the occupational disability pension (former Art. 39a ETH PO) is no longer appropriate. The occupational disability pension was originally set up to assist people who were no longer able to practise their specific (and less common) profession as the result of an accident - even though retraining meant they were subsequently fit to work. Nowadays insurance policies and the usual integration and retraining measures provide assistance in such cases, so the occupational disability pension has been scrapped.

More information can be found here.

If you have any questions, please contact HR Personnel Consulting.