Social assistance: precision of the notion of available resource oravailable at short notice

Press release of the Swiss Supreme Court of 4 March 2020: The Geneva Court of Justice has infringed the right to minimum living conditions guaranteed by Article 12 of the Federal Constitution by refusing transitional social assistance benefits on the ground that, as a member of a hereditary community owning real estate, the applicant had assets that excluded her from entitlement to social assistance benefits. A property held in a hereditary community, which is the subject of a division action, does not constitute a resource that is immediately available or available in the short term and therefore cannot be taken into account in assessing whether a person is in need.

Judgment of 6 February 2020 (8C_444/2019)

Social insurance: compulsory health insurance

The Swiss Federal Court rejects the appeal of a health insurance company: There is no absolute maximum limit to the coverage of the costs of hospital treatment by compulsory health insurance. As long as the medical measures in question meet the legal requirements, the duty to provide health insurance is full (Swiss Federal Court press release of 25 April 2019).

Federal Court ruling 9C_744/2018 of 1 April 2019

Labor law: labor certification

The Swiss Federal Court has held that the employer is entitled to mention an absence due to maternity leave in the employment certificate. In the case in point, the maternity leave corresponded to half the time of employment.

Federal Court ruling 8C_134/2018.