Unemployment insurance supports people who wish to start a business under a self-employed scheme.
Unemployed persons are given a 90-day planning phase to develop a plan allowing them to set up a self-employed business, with a specific goal. They receive a daily allowance and do not need to worry about checks or continue to look for a job. At the end of this period, the unemployed person must decide whether he/she wishes to become self-employed or not.
On top of the daily allowance they receive, unemployed persons can also request a support guarantee of up to CHF 1 Million from a loan guarantee company. The following deadlines must be respected:
- People applying for a support guarantee and receiving daily allowances must file the application in the first 19 weeks of the unemployment period supervised by the Regional Employment Office (REO).
- People applying for a support guarantee not receiving daily allowances (without the need for a planning phase, as the plan is already ready to go) must file their application during the first 35 weeks of the supervised period of unemployment.
To receive the daily allowance, a person must:
- be blameless for their unemployment,
- be registered with the REO and fulfill the conditions entitling them to receive unemployment benefits,
- be age 20 or older,
- have filed an application and enclosed an outline of the plan.
Applications for financial aid support must be sent to the Regional Employment Office (REO) in the area where the person lives. Any self-employment activity extends the timeframe by two years. This additional period allows young entrepreneurs to benefit from unemployment insurance if their transition to self-employment fails. If this is the case, the self-employment activity must end.
