About Us

SECO – Labour market / unemployment insurance benefits

The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) is the Swiss labour market authority, and thus it is responsible for the law on job placement and unemployment insurance. The cantons, the regional employment centres (RAV), the logistics centres for labour market measures (LMM) and the unemployment insurance funds (ALK) are responsible for executing these laws.

The Unemployment Insurance (UI) Compensation Office, which is part of SECO, supervises and manages the UI’s Compensation Fund. The UI ensures an adequate replacement income and aims at securing a quick and lasting reintegration of unemployed people into the labour market.

SECO works to reduce unemployment in cooperation with its executive partners. Moreover, SECO represents Switzerland in international matters relating to job placement and hiring of staff, as well as all issues concerning unemployment.

SECO - Arbeitslosenversicherung

Supervisory Commission for the Unemployment Insurance Compensation Fund

The Supervisory Commission for the Unemployment Insurance Compensation Fund is an official extra-parliamentary committee attached to the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER). Established in 1978, it has the following tasks:

In accordance with Art. 89 of the Unemployment Insurance Act (UIA), the Commission monitors the status and development of the fund, and audits its annual financial statements and annual report for the attention of the Federal Council. It advises the Federal Council in all financial matters relating to insurance as well as in legal matters, and may also submit proposals to it in this connection. It decides on contributions for labour market research, is authorised to issue general guidelines on the implementation of labour market measures for the attention of the Compensation Office and has budget-setting and accounting powers in respect of the administrative costs incurred by the funds and cantons as well as of the Compensation Office.

The Commission is made up of representatives of the social partners, the cantons, the federal government and academic institutions. Its members are appointed – and their roles defined – by the Federal Council. The Commission is presided over by the head of the Labour Directorate.

Aufsichtskommission für den Ausgleichsfonds der Arbeitslosenversicherung

Mitglieder der Aufsichtskommission

Profile
Supervisory Commission for the Unemployment Insurance Compensation Fund (SC UI) (PDF, 1 MB, 22.02.2024)

Regional employment centres

The regional employment centres (RAV) specialise in the areas of the labour market, unemployment and job placement. The more than 100 RAVs form the largest job placement platform in Switzerland. Both the employers who are offering a position of employment and the unemployed people who are searching for a job will find their regional employment centre to be a trusted partner for advice and job placement.

The unemployment insurance funds

Since the introduction of obligatory unemployment insurance on 1 January 1984, the unemployment insurance funds (UIF) have been the point of contact for all the financial matters relating to unemployment. The unemployment insurance funds check whether the insured person meets the requirements for claims for unemployment benefit and other payments, within the framework of the Unemployment Insurance Act (UIA), and they are responsible for the monthly payments. These funds pay out the allowances for unemployment, insolvency, bad weather and short-time working compensation; they also pay the training and induction grants.

Today there are a total of 38 responsible organisations in Switzerland which manage an unemployment insurance fund. Each canton operates a public unemployment insurance fund. These are all members of the Association of Public Unemployment Insurance Funds (vak). Besides these, employees’ and employers’ organisations with a national, regional or cantonal reach have set up private insurance funds.

The insured persons and the employers are free to choose any one of the unemployment insurance funds. The law only requires that insolvency compensation has to be processed exclusively by the public insurance funds.

Cantonal employment offices

The employment offices are mainly integrated within the Departments of Economic Affairs in the cantonal administration, and bear various names such as...

• Cantonal Department of Industry, Commerce and Labour (KIGA)
• Office for Economics and Labour (AWA)
• Cantonal Employment Office
• Employment Office
• Labour Market Office

The cantonal employment offices report to the regional employment centres (RAV), and generally to the public unemployment insurance funds. Together with the logistics centres for labour market measures (LMM) they ensure that a sufficient range of services is available at Labour market measures. As cantonal labour market authorities, they perform the duties assigned to them by federal law in the areas of labour market and unemployment insurance, as well as additional duties under cantonal law.

The cantonal employment offices are the instances that grants permits for private job placement and temporary HR recruitment (temporary work), within the framework of the federal legislation on job placement. Generally they are also responsible for examining applications for work permits for foreign nationals from the aspect of the labour market. They are also responsible for executing the associated measures based on the treaty with the EU on the free movement of people, and for measures to combat illegal employment without a permit. The cantonal employment offices also exercise supervision over the municipal employment offices, or the first instances for the unemployed to register at.

To promote the cooperation among themselves and with SECO, the labour market authorities are members of the Association of Swiss Labour Market Authorities (VSAA).

Interinstitutional cooperation

Interinstitutional cooperation (IIZ) strengthens cooperation and turns institutional boundaries into real opportunities. For this to happen, it takes the strengths of all areas. IIZ covers the cooperation of two or more institutions in the following areas:

• Unemployment insurance
• Disability insurance
• Social welfare
• Integration of foreign nationals
• Professional training

IIZ pursues the broader aim of trying to improve the chances of people who are entering the regular labour market, and aligning the various systems in the best possible way. It puts people at the centre and creates value on the ground. At the national level, IIZ also shapes the framework for pragmatic and binding cooperation. To turn intersections into seamless interfaces, thus facilitating professional as well as social integration over the long term.

When various institutions work together in a coordinated manner to integrate or reintegrate job seekers into the labour market, the following advantages arise:

• The institutions involved coordinate their analyses regarding the reintegration strategy for job seekers, which eliminates overlaps.
• The various interfaces between the institutions are defined thanks to joint communication and shared exchanges, and complex processes are simplified.
• “Boxed-in thinking” – i.e. each institution only considering their own interests – is avoided in day-to-day work and in individual cases.
• The revolving-door effect (a person always finding themselves in the same situation and being shunted from one institution to another) is avoided, which facilitates their reintegration into the labour market.