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Claudia H. renounced her father’s inheritance in favor of her mother. But the amount is now credited to her assets.
Camilla AlaborEditor Sunday view
The termination hit Claudia H.* (60) out of the blue. She loved her job as head of decoration in a department store, leading a team, the feedback was always positive. 2020 then the dismissal – austerity measures.
A little later Ms. H. found two jobs with a total workload of 30 percent; she searched for a full-time job for two years in vain.
H. put her hope in the bridging benefit (ÜL). The emergency pension law came into force in July 2021; it is intended to prevent older unemployed people from slipping into social assistance shortly before they retire. But the authorities rejected H’s request. The reason: a waiver of inheritance from 2017.
Waiver of inheritance because of mother
In fact, H. and her brother had renounced their share of the inheritance when their father died. “Otherwise, our 90-year-old mother would have had to sell her house to pay us off,” says H. The authorities counted the sum as assets – which is above the threshold of 50,000 francs. Because you are only entitled to an emergency pension if you are over 60 years old, have worked for 20 years and have assets of no more than 5,000 francs.
Theoretically, H. could submit an ÜL application again this year: the value of the inheritance decreases by 10,000 francs every year, which means that H.’s assets would soon fall below the legal threshold. But because she found an interim income during her two years of unemployment, she is not considered to have been paid out. This means that there is no entitlement to the ÜL – even if Ms H. will only receive CHF 1,500 per month from the unemployment fund in future. She finds that unfair: “I would advise anyone who becomes unemployed at the age of 58 to put their mother on the street, squander the inheritance and not take any interim earnings,” she says sarcastically.
“I came to Switzerland at the age of 20, worked here for 40 years, now I’m crippled and without anything.”Goran D (62)
Goran D.* (62) also hoped for an emergency pension. He worked as a bus driver until the age of 58, when illness forced him to reduce his hours. A little later he was fired.
Absurd calculation of the authorities
D. decided to become self-employed and founded a company. But the company went bankrupt, destroying a large part of his savings. D. registered with the RAV, sent application to application. Without success. After he had been excluded, he applied for a bridging benefit. The authorities also rejected his request. Reason: D. owns an apartment in Croatia.
Although their taxable value is only 40,000 francs. But “three times the tax value serves as the market value of foreign real estate,” the authorities said. This increases the calculation size of the apartment to CHF 120,000. For D. an absurd calculation. He submitted an objection.
The authorities took more than a year to respond. In their next letter, however, they demanded stacks of forms from D.: the contract of sale for the apartment, a Croatian cadastral extract, an estimate of the sale value of the apartment, and a dozen other documents.
Fictitious assets are also taken into account
“I don’t have these papers,” says D. In the meantime, he had to sell the apartment to finance his livelihood; He does not want to apply for social assistance. “I came to Switzerland at the age of 20, worked here for 40 years, now I’m crippled and without anything,” he says bitterly. He plans to emigrate to Bosnia after his early retirement. “I don’t want to have anything to do with the authorities anymore.”
A look at the statistics reveals that cases like those of H. and D. are not uncommon. Many people believe that they are entitled to the ÜL – and fail because of the strict requirements.
“It can’t be that people tap their pension fund.”Heidi Joos, Avenir 50 Plus
Figures from the cantons of Aargau and St. Gallen show that only a third of applicants receive an emergency pension. In Bern it is even a quarter. For many, the asset ceiling is considered to have been exceeded. Even if, as with Ms. H., fictitious assets are involved.
“Adjustment of the admission criteria necessary”
The legal situation is clear, says Michael E. Meier (35), lawyer and senior assistant for social security law at the University of Lucerne. “A waiver of inheritance is considered a waiver of assets – even if it is done for noble motives.” With regard to the interim earnings, which excludes Ms. H. from the emergency pension, the lawyer says: “That could be a gap that the legislature has not considered.”
Heidi Joos (68) puts it more sharply: “An adjustment of the admission criteria is urgently needed.” She is the founder of the association Avenir 50 plus, which works for older unemployed people. “It can’t be that people have to tap into their pension fund.”
Joos has three suggestions: First, those who were excluded before the age of 60 should also have access to an emergency pension. “I see every day how many people this affects.” Second, the third pillar should not be counted as wealth. Third, it is wrong if those affected have to sell their car.
The federal government is currently dealing with the question of whether adjustments are needed to the ÜL: An evaluation has been announced for this year. However, a fundamental reform is hardly to be expected – Parliament would have to become active for this.
* Name changed