Protected Periods (Sperrfrist) in Swiss Employment: Art. 336c OR

An employer in Switzerland cannot always give notice the moment they decide to. Certain situations, mainly illness, accident, pregnancy and compulsory service, trigger a protected period under Art. 336c OR during which notice from the employer simply does not work.

Swiss law calls this a Sperrfrist. It is a narrower, more specific protection than the general rules against abusive termination, and it interacts with the ordinary notice periods in ways that surprise a lot of readers. This page sets out the exact bands and the two very different outcomes that follow depending on the timing of the notice.

Information last verified on 21 July 2026. This page provides general legal information about Swiss law and does not constitute legal advice in an individual case.

What a Sperrfrist actually protects against

Art. 336c Abs. 1 OR lists the situations in which the employer may not give notice at all, once the employee's probation period has ended. These include military or civil service, and for more than eleven days of it, four weeks before and four weeks after as well. They also include incapacity to work through illness or accident that is not the employee's own fault, pregnancy and the period after birth, and participation in an officially ordered foreign aid mission with the employer's consent.

The protection is specifically against the EMPLOYER giving notice. An employee can still resign during any of these windows if they choose to, since Art. 336c OR exists to shield the employee from being let go at a vulnerable moment, not to trap them in the job.

Note as well that these protections apply only after probation. Art. 336c Abs. 1 OR opens with the words "nach Ablauf der Probezeit", meaning after the end of the probation period. During probation itself, either side can still end the contract on seven days notice under the separate rule covered on our notice periods page, with no Sperrfrist protection available yet.

The illness and accident bands, by service year

The most commonly used Sperrfrist is the one for illness or accident that leaves the employee unable to work through no fault of their own. Art. 336c Abs. 1 lit. b OR sets it out in three bands, and the exact day counts matter.

An employee in their first year of service who falls ill is protected for 30 days from the start of the incapacity. An employee in their fourth year gets 90 days, and an employee in their seventh year gets a full 180 days. Once the relevant window has run out, the Sperrfrist protection for that particular episode of illness ends, even if the employee is still unwell.

Do not merge this table with the notice period table

This is the single easiest mistake to make on this whole topic, and it is worth stating as bluntly as possible. The Sperrfrist bands above are NOT the same as the ordinary notice period bands in Art. 335c OR, even though both are measured in Dienstjahre.

Look closely at the sixth service year. Under the notice period rule, an employee in their sixth year is still comfortably inside the two month band, since that band runs all the way to the ninth year. Under the Sperrfrist rule, the same sixth year is already inside the top 180 day band, since that scale changes at year six rather than year ten. Applying one table's cutoff to the other table produces a wrong answer in exactly this kind of case.

Pregnancy and the period after birth

Art. 336c Abs. 1 lit. c OR protects an employee throughout pregnancy and for 16 weeks after the birth. This window does not depend on the employee's length of service the way the illness and accident bands do, and it applies from the moment the pregnancy exists, whether or not the employer has been told about it yet.

The statute also contains newer, more specific bands added since for extended maternity leave, the other parent's leave, and care leave situations. These are real provisions of the same article, though they apply to narrower circumstances than the core pregnancy and 30/90/180 day illness bands most readers are looking for.

Military and civil service protection

Art. 336c Abs. 1 lit. a OR protects an employee during Swiss compulsory military or civil service. If that service lasts more than eleven days, the protection also extends four weeks before the service starts and four weeks after it ends, not just the days of the service itself.

A shorter period of service, eleven days or fewer, is protected only for the days of the service, without the additional four week buffer on either side. This distinction is easy to miss if a reader only remembers the phrase "military service is protected" without the day count attached to it.

Void versus paused: the two outcomes that are not the same thing

This is the second trap the statute itself warns about, and the two outcomes could not be more different. Art. 336c Abs. 2 OR sets out both rules in the same sentence, and readers routinely conflate them.

Notice given DURING a Sperrfrist is void. If the employer hands over a notice while the employee is inside a protected window, the notice simply has no legal effect. It is not merely postponed and it does not start counting once the Sperrfrist ends. The employer has to wait until the protected period is over and then issue an entirely new, separate notice if they still intend to end the employment.

Notice given BEFORE a Sperrfrist begins, with the notice period still running, is only paused. If a valid notice was already given and its notice period had not yet finished when a Sperrfrist starts, for example the employee falls ill partway through, the running of that notice period is interrupted. It picks back up again, from where it left off, only after the Sperrfrist ends.

Worked timeline: notice given during a Sperrfrist

Suppose an employee falls ill on 1 September 2026, in their fourth Dienstjahr, giving them a 90 day Sperrfrist. On 10 September, still within that window, the employer hands over a notice of termination.

The employer cannot treat the 10 September notice as merely delayed. It has to be reissued from scratch once the protected window closes.

Worked timeline: notice given before a Sperrfrist begins

Now suppose the same employer instead gives notice on 20 July 2026, before any illness exists, triggering the standard two month notice period that runs to a month end. The employee then falls ill on 10 August, midway through that notice period, and qualifies for a 90 day Sperrfrist.

Nothing about this notice was ever void. It was simply paused, and the employment relationship continues to run on the original notice until the paused clock finishes counting down.

The Endtermin rounding rule

Once a paused notice period resumes and finishes, it rarely lands neatly on a month end by coincidence. Art. 336c Abs. 3 OR fixes this by extending the resumed period further, to whatever the next proper Endtermin is, whether that is the end of a calendar month or the end of a contractually defined work week.

This means the true end date of an interrupted notice period is almost always later than a simple day count would suggest. Always check the next Endtermin after adding back the paused days, rather than assuming the math ends the relationship on an arbitrary date.

Where this fits with the rest of the cluster

The Sperrfrist rules above sit alongside, not instead of, the ordinary notice periods covered on our notice periods page. A notice can be perfectly timed under Art. 335c OR and still be void or paused because of Art. 336c OR, so both rules need to be checked together whenever a termination date matters.

If a notice looks like it may have been given for a prohibited motive rather than simply during a protected window, that is the separate question covered on our wrongful termination page. For the wider employment law picture, see our employment law hub, and for Swiss law more generally, our guide to Swiss law.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Sperrfrist mean in Swiss employment law?

A Sperrfrist is a protected period during which Art. 336c OR does not allow the employer to give notice at all. It covers windows tied to illness, accident, pregnancy, and military or civil service, and it only applies to notice given by the employer, not the employee.

How long is the Sperrfrist for illness in Switzerland?

It depends on the employee's service year, and the bands are different from ordinary notice periods. Art. 336c Abs. 1 lit. b OR sets 30 days in the first Dienstjahr, 90 days from the second through the fifth Dienstjahr, and 180 days from the sixth Dienstjahr onward.

Are the Sperrfrist bands the same as the notice period bands?

No, and confusing the two is a common mistake. Art. 335c OR's notice period bands break at the first, second through ninth, and tenth service year. Art. 336c OR's Sperrfrist bands break at the first, second through fifth, and sixth service year instead.

What happens if my employer gives notice while I am on sick leave?

If you are inside the applicable Sperrfrist band for your service year, the notice is void under Art. 336c Abs. 2 OR. It has no legal effect, and your employer has to wait until the protected period ends and then give a new notice if they still want to end the contract.

What if notice was given before I got sick, and then I fall ill?

That notice is not void. Under the second half of Art. 336c Abs. 2 OR, the notice period simply pauses for as long as the Sperrfrist lasts and then resumes counting down once the protected period ends.

How long is the pregnancy protection period in Switzerland?

Art. 336c Abs. 1 lit. c OR protects an employee for the whole pregnancy and for 16 weeks after the birth. During that window the employer cannot give notice, regardless of how long the employee has worked there.

Does the Sperrfrist apply during my probation period?

No. Art. 336c Abs. 1 OR only applies after probation has ended. During probation itself, either side can end the contract on seven days notice under the separate rule in Art. 335b OR, without any Sperrfrist protection.

What happens if my paused notice period would end mid month?

It does not end mid month. Art. 336c Abs. 3 OR extends a resumed notice period to the next proper month end or work week end if the calculated date does not already land on one.