Swiss Unemployment Benefit: How to Calculate It (2026)

The moment the termination letter arrives, one sober question follows: how much money will come in, and from when? In Switzerland you can estimate your unemployment benefit fairly precisely — once you know the four figures that work together: your insured earnings, the rate (70 or 80 percent), the number of daily allowances, and the waiting days.

This guide explains each of those figures in plain language, works through a concrete example, and clears up the most common misunderstanding of all — namely, who actually transfers the money. That way you can calculate your Swiss unemployment benefit yourself before the first payment lands.

Who actually pays the unemployment benefit?

A widespread myth: the RAV does not pay. The Regional Employment Centre (RAV) supports you, checks your job-search efforts and reports any sanctions — but the money is transferred by your unemployment fund (Arbeitslosenkasse). You may choose the fund freely; it calculates your binding daily allowance and pays it out each month.

The order matters: before the fund can calculate anything, you must be registered with the RAV, fit for placement, and prove your monthly job-search efforts on time. Miss the proof and you risk suspension days — that is, reduced payouts. The calculation itself, however, always follows the same pattern.

70 or 80 percent? How your daily-allowance rate is set

The daily allowance is either 70 % or 80 % of your insured earnings. You get the higher 80 % rate if at least one of the following applies:

• You have a maintenance obligation towards children under 25.
• Your insured earnings are around CHF 3,800 per month or below.
• You draw a disability pension with a certain degree of invalidity.

If none of these applies, the rate is 70 %. It is not negotiable — it follows directly from your situation, which makes it the first lever in your calculation.

Insured earnings: the base and the ceiling

Insured earnings are the heart of the calculation. They equal the average gross salary of the last six months before unemployment (the last twelve months count if that is more favourable for you). Regular allowances and a pro-rated 13th month salary are included.

Two limits are worth knowing:

• Ceiling: salary is only insured up to CHF 12,350 per month (around CHF 148,200 a year). Higher earners are still only counted up to that cap.
• Floor: a very small income below roughly CHF 500 per month does not establish insured earnings.

For most employees, insured earnings are simply the previous monthly salary — including fixed pay components.

How many daily allowances you are entitled to

Unemployment benefit is not unlimited; it comes as a fixed number of daily allowances. How many you get depends mainly on your contribution period (the months you worked and paid AHV contributions) and your age:

• 12 to under 18 months of contributions: usually 260 daily allowances.
• 18 to 24 months of contributions: up to 400 daily allowances.
• Insured persons under 25 with no maintenance obligation: a maximum of 200 daily allowances.
• Aged 55 and over with a sufficient contribution period: up to 520 daily allowances.

Five daily allowances are paid per week, so roughly 21.7 per month. With 260 allowances, the entitlement therefore lasts about a year in theory — provided you stay fit for placement throughout and keep proving your efforts.

Waiting days and a worked example

Before the first money flows, there are usually five general waiting days for which no compensation is paid. Higher insured earnings without maintenance obligations add further waiting days; those who have just finished their education face a considerably longer waiting period.

Let's run an example. Assume your insured earnings are CHF 6,000 and you have no children — so the 70 % rate applies.

• Full daily allowance: CHF 6,000 ÷ 21.7 = about CHF 276.
• 70 % of that: about CHF 194 per controlled day.
• Over a month of roughly 21.7 controlled days: about CHF 4,200 gross.

Social deductions still come off that gross figure (AHV/IV/EO, ALV and non-occupational accident insurance), so the actual transfer is a little lower. All figures are as of 2026 and without guarantee — your unemployment fund always does the binding calculation.

Where ApplyCH helps in your job search

The benefit keeps flowing only as long as you prove your job-search efforts in full and on time. That obligation is exactly where ApplyCH comes in — a free Chrome extension (Manifest V3) built for the Swiss job market:

• Fill your RAV proof for free: ApplyCH auto-fills the official job-room.ch "proof of work efforts" form in one click — with no monthly limit. That lowers the risk of suspension days, which would cut your daily allowance directly.
• Capture jobs in one click: on LinkedIn, jobs.ch or any company career page, you save the whole posting including the company address — exactly the details the proof later requires.
• Tailor your applications: AI cover letters in German, French, Italian or English following Swiss letter conventions, plus a CV tailored to the posting with a match score.

To be honest about scope: ApplyCH helps you create, tailor and organise applications and auto-fill the RAV form. You send the applications yourself — and the daily-allowance calculation stays with your unemployment fund.

How to start

Run your own numbers once: insured earnings times the rate, divided by 21.7, times the controlled days in the month. Now you know what to plan with. For the time-consuming part — the monthly RAV proof and saving your applications — ApplyCH installs for free in a few minutes, with no credit card. More at applych.com.

ApplyCH is an independent product and is not affiliated with job-room.ch, with RAV / ORP / URC, or with SECO. Legal responsibility for the accuracy of your entries and the timely submission of your proof of work efforts remains with you; the binding amount of your unemployment benefit is determined solely by your unemployment fund.