Daily allowance

What is a daily allowance?

A daily allowance (Taggeld) is a cash benefit per calendar day that replaces the salary you cannot earn because you are unable to work. It does not reimburse doctors’ or hospital bills: depending on the cause, those costs are covered by accident insurance or basic health insurance. The daily allowance only covers loss of earnings.

You are unable to work if, because of impaired physical, mental or psychological health, you cannot fully or partly perform work that can reasonably be expected of you in your current occupation (Art. 6 of the Federal Act on the General Part of Social Insurance Law, ATSG). This is usually confirmed by a medical certificate stating the degree of inability to work as a percentage.

In Switzerland, there are several daily allowances from different insurance schemes:

• Accident daily allowance under the UVG: compulsory for employees. It pays for work-related accidents and, if you work at least eight hours a week for one employer, also for non-work-related accidents.
• Daily sickness allowance: voluntary. Many employers take out collective daily sickness allowance insurance, usually under the Insurance Contract Act (ICA; in German VVG). There is also voluntary daily allowance insurance under the Federal Health Insurance Act (KVG).
• Other daily allowances: the invalidity insurance (IV) and the income compensation scheme (EO) also pay daily allowances, for example for maternity. They follow their own laws and are not covered on this page.

For health insurance, the key distinction is this: compulsory basic health insurance (compulsory health insurance) does not pay a daily allowance. If you fall ill, you only receive replacement income from your employer or from daily allowance insurance.

How it works

Daily allowance after an accident

Employees in Switzerland are compulsorily insured under the Federal Act on Accident Insurance (UVG) (Art. 1a UVG). This always applies to a work-related accident. You are insured against non-work-related accidents, i.e. accidents in your free time, if you work at least eight hours a week for one employer (Art. 13 para. 1 UVV). The employer pays the premium for work-related accidents; the premium for non-work-related accidents is deducted from your salary (Art. 91 UVG).

The daily allowance starts on the third day after the day of the accident (Art. 16 para. 2 UVG). For this waiting time, the employer must pay at least four fifths of the salary (Art. 324b para. 3 of the Code of Obligations, CO). If you are fully unable to work, the daily allowance is 80% of insured earnings; if you are partly unable to work, it is reduced accordingly (Art. 17 para. 1 UVG). Your last salary before the accident is used (Art. 15 para. 2 UVG), up to CHF 148,200 a year or CHF 406 a day (Art. 22 para. 1 of the Ordinance on Accident Insurance, UVV). The daily allowance is paid for every day, including Sundays and public holidays (Art. 25 para. 1 UVV).

Entitlement ends as soon as you are fully able to work again, a pension starts, or in the event of death (Art. 16 para. 2 UVG).

Daily allowance for illness

There is no compulsory daily allowance for illness. The Code of Obligations only requires the employer to provide continued payment of salary for a limited period if the employment has lasted more than three months or was entered into for longer: three weeks in the first year of employment, then a “reasonably longer period” (Art. 324a para. 1 and 2 CO). An equivalent solution, such as daily sickness allowance insurance, may replace this obligation if agreed in writing (Art. 324a para. 4 CO).

Anyone who lives or works in Switzerland and is between 15 and 65 years old can take out voluntary daily allowance insurance under the KVG (Art. 67 para. 1 KVG). You may choose a different insurer for this than for basic health insurance (Art. 67 para. 2 KVG). Every health insurer authorised to provide compulsory health insurance must offer this daily allowance insurance and accept every eligible person in its area of activity (Art. 5 let. h and i of the Health Insurance Supervision Act, KVAG). You agree the amount of the daily allowance with the insurer. Entitlement arises from at least 50% inability to work, on the third day after falling ill unless agreed otherwise, and the daily allowance must be paid for at least 720 days within 900 days (Art. 72 para. 1–3 KVG). For maternity, the insurance pays for 16 weeks if you were insured for at least 270 days before giving birth (Art. 74 KVG).

In practice, most employers’ daily sickness allowance solutions are collective contracts under the ICA. There, the contract sets the waiting period, the amount (often a percentage of salary) and the duration.

Legal basis

• UVG and UVV: entitlement and start (Art. 16 UVG), amount of 80% (Art. 17 UVG), insured earnings (Art. 15 UVG), maximum of CHF 148,200 a year and CHF 406 a day (Art. 22 para. 1 UVV), payment for every calendar day (Art. 25 para. 1 UVV), cover for non-work-related accidents from eight hours a week (Art. 13 UVV).
• KVG: voluntary daily allowance insurance (Art. 67–74 KVG), in particular joining (Art. 67), benefits (Art. 72) and daily allowance for maternity (Art. 74). The premium rates of individual daily allowance insurance must be approved by the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) (Art. 16 para. 1 KVAG).
• CO: the employer’s continued payment of salary (Art. 324a CO) and the obligation, where insurance is compulsory, to ensure at least 80% of salary and to bridge the waiting time (Art. 324b CO).
• ATSG: definition of inability to work (Art. 6 ATSG) and prohibition of overcompensation when benefits from several social insurance schemes coincide (Art. 69 ATSG).
• ICA: daily sickness allowance insurance under the ICA is a private-law contract. Its benefits are set out in the insurer’s general terms and conditions, not in the law.

Example: leisure accident with one month off work

Marco is 40, works full time and earns CHF 78,000 a year (12 × CHF 6,500). On Saturday, 07.03.2026, he falls while hiking and is then 100% unable to work for 30 days. Because he works more than eight hours a week, the leisure accident is insured under the UVG through his employer.

If Marco had fallen ill rather than had an accident, things would look different: if his employer had no daily sickness allowance insurance, it would only have to continue paying his salary for the period under Art. 324a CO, three weeks in the first year of employment. After that, without his own insurance, Marco would have no replacement income. In that case, basic health insurance would cover the medical costs, minus the deductible and retention fee.

What this means for you

1. Check your employment contract. Does it mention daily sickness allowance insurance? How high is the daily allowance (for example 80% of salary), how long is the waiting period and how long is the benefit period? If nothing is stated, ask your HR department.
2. Self-employed or not in paid work? Then you are not insured under the UVG and have no continued payment of salary. Your own daily allowance insurance may make sense. Your basic insurance provider must accept you for daily allowance insurance under the KVG if you are between 15 and 65.
3. Suspend accident cover with your health insurer. If you work at least eight hours a week for one employer, you are insured against accidents under the UVG. You can then suspend accident cover in basic health insurance (Art. 8 KVG); the premium calculator shows the premium with and without accident cover.
4. Take care when changing or losing your job. UVG cover ends on the 31st day after the last day on which you were entitled to at least half your salary (Art. 3 para. 2 UVG). With extended cover by agreement (Abredeversicherung), it can be extended by up to six months (Art. 3 para. 3 UVG). After that, you must add accident cover back to your health insurance.
5. Compare providers. The profiles under health insurers show which insurers offer which daily allowance solutions. For a personal assessment, you can request advice.

Common mistakes

• Thinking your health insurer pays your salary when you are ill. Basic health insurance covers treatment costs but not lost earnings. A daily allowance is only available with separate insurance.
• Overlooking the waiting time. After an accident, the insurer only pays from the third day after the day of the accident. Daily sickness allowance contracts commonly have waiting periods of several weeks; the contract applies.
• Submitting the medical certificate too late. Without confirmed inability to work, the insurer cannot calculate a daily allowance. Report accidents and longer absences to your employer immediately.
• Counting on double daily allowances. If benefits from several social insurance schemes coincide, they are reduced insofar as they exceed the lost earnings and additional costs (Art. 69 ATSG).
• Forgetting cover when you leave your job. After you leave, protection through your employer ends. Before your last working day, clarify how you will continue to cover accidents and daily sickness allowance.

We explain how we calculate examples under how we calculate.