Absence management means receiving notifications reliably, keeping shift planning up to date and protecting confidential information. In the case of illness or an accident, evidence and questions about continued payment of salary are added. A clean process separates these tasks but keeps them together around the same absence. This guide shows one possible organisation for Swiss SMEs. The processes are practical recommendations; the law prescribes no particular form of process.
Define the reporting route and responsibilities
Decide where a person reports in the event of an unexpected absence and who arranges cover. The business needs a contact person who can be reached and a substitute in case that person is absent too. Whether a call or a digital notification is required first is an operational decision. Explain the process on joining and record it where everyone can find it.
The first notification contains the start of the absence and the duration known so far. If the duration is unknown, document that too and agree when the person will get in touch again. Do not demand an invented forecast of the return. Shift planning then works with the confirmed position.
Distinguish planned requests from unexpected notifications. Holiday is planned in advance and approved; an incapacity for work that has already occurred is not a freely chosen holiday date. You will find more on planning holiday in the guide to holiday entitlement in Switzerland. A status of “open” describes only the processing stage and does not decide on any entitlement.
Also determine who completes a notification, who checks the evidence and who informs payroll. The direct line manager needs the information on availability for work, HR needs the documents. These tasks need not lie with the same person.
Document illness and accidents
Record the type of absence, the period and the extent relevant to planning clearly. If the person is absent only in part, record the confirmed facts and what is still open: a percentage alone does not tell shift planning at which times work is possible.
Restraint is called for with health data. Data on health are particularly sensitive personal data under Art. 5 lit. c point 2 DSG (see the basics in the guide to data protection in HR). The employer may process data about employees only to the extent that it concerns their suitability for the employment relationship or is necessary for performing the employment contract (Art. 328b CO). The Data Protection Act also requires proportionality and a recognisable purpose (Art. 6, paras. 2 and 3 DSG) and suitable technical and organisational measures for data security (Art. 8, para. 1 DSG). For the organisation, this means: record what you need for processing and limit access.
A team overview needs the information that someone is absent, not a medical history. Do not write diagnoses or suppositions into calendar fields that many people see. For confidential queries, use a protected route with clear responsibility.
Document changes so that the original notification and the new state of knowledge remain understandable. An extended medical certificate, an earlier return and the correction of an input error are different events. Whoever checks the payroll later must be able to see which period was ultimately decisive.
Keep medical certificates up to date securely
The law names no day from which a medical certificate must be submitted. According to SECO, the employee bears the burden of proof and submits a certificate on request; in principle the employer may demand one from the first day of incapacity for work. Many employment contracts require it only from the third or fourth day. Regulate the threshold in the contract or regulations, therefore, and apply it equally to everyone.
According to SECO, the certificate must show whether the person is wholly or partly unfit for work; in the case of partial incapacity it should state the extent of the limitation, for example how many hours of work a day are reasonable. The certificate should not contain a diagnosis. In the case of longer incapacity for work, new certificates are, according to SECO, to be submitted periodically without being asked.
In the process, distinguish at least “not yet submitted”, “file received” and “content checked”. A successful upload confirms only that a file has arrived. Check whether it belongs to the person and the period and is legible. If transmission fails, the notification must still remain findable: record the missing certificate as an open task and explain how it can be submitted later.
Determine who has access to the documents. Personal data must be destroyed or anonymised as soon as they are no longer needed for the purpose of processing (Art. 6, para. 4 DSG). A uniform retention period for every medical certificate cannot be derived from this; check each case.
Check salary and protection against dismissal separately
If someone is prevented from working through no fault of their own by illness or accident, the employer owes salary for a limited time, provided the employment relationship has lasted more than three months or was entered into for more than three months (Art. 324a, para. 1 CO). How long and in what amount depends on the year of service, on insurance and on the contract; the details are in the guide to sick pay. Shift planning should not have to decide on the salary entitlement.
Protection against dismissal is a separate question. After the probation period has ended, the employer may not give notice while the person is wholly or partly prevented from working through no fault of their own by illness or accident, namely for 30 days in the first year of service, for 90 days from the second up to and including the fifth year of service and for 180 days from the sixth year of service (Art. 336c, para. 1 lit. b CO). An approved absence request is not a calculation of periods; the guide to termination protection periods gives the overview.
Organise the return and duty of care
Before the return, clarify which tasks the person can take on again and which arrangements are needed. The conversation serves the organisation of work and support. It is not an opportunity to collect medical suppositions or to keep a ranking of the most frequent absences. Record only what is necessary for the agreed purpose.
If short absences accumulate, a confidential conversation may make sense. A statistical anomaly proves neither a particular illness nor misconduct. First check data quality and context: an absence entered twice or a wrong date must not trigger a duty-of-care measure. Responsibility for what happens next stays with people.
Practical example: Werkstatt Birkenhof
The Werkstatt Birkenhof is a fictitious business with a five-day week. Its policy requires a medical certificate from the third calendar day of the absence; this threshold is an operational assumption of this example. An employee reports unfit for work from Monday to Wednesday. There are no public holidays and no part-time workload. The notification covers three working days, and the certificate is submitted on Tuesday.
| Point in time | Action | Documented position |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Receive the notification, arrange cover | 3 working days of expected absence |
| Tuesday | Assign the certificate to the existing case | Period confirmed, file checked |
| Wednesday | Agree the return | Work planned from Thursday |
| Thursday | Confirm the return, complete payroll processing | 3 working days lost |
The team calendar shows the absence without disclosing the reason to everyone. HR assigns the certificate and checks the salary question separately; payroll receives the confirmed period and no medical details. A second absence is not created just because the document arrived later.
If the incapacity for work lasted up to and including Thursday, it would be four working days instead of three. HR updates the period, informs the cover and updates the documents. The calculation serves shift planning; it does not result in a daily allowance amount or an insurance commitment.
Checklist for HR
- Reporting route and substitute are known
- Start, extent and provisional duration recorded
- Health reason visible only to authorised persons
- Threshold for the medical certificate regulated in the contract or regulations
- Certificate assigned to the right case, content and period checked
- Extension and return kept up to date
- Continued payment of salary (Art. 324a CO) and protection periods (Art. 336c CO) assessed separately
- Open tasks assigned to a responsible person
- Retention and deletion of the documents determined
How KMU | base helps
You will find absences in HR | base under Time › Absences. “Absence types” distinguishes holiday, illness, accident, military service, further training and other. With “Request on the web”, employees report illness or an accident themselves: with the period, if needed half days or hours, cover and a comment. Under My absences they see their list with status and withdraw open requests. Approvers see open requests as a counter in the Team requests tab and in the widget on the start page. For shift planning, nonetheless rely on a fixed routine for reviewing open requests.
With “Upload medical certificate”, you attach the certificate directly to the notification or submit it later on the existing request (PDF, JPG or PNG). Under Absences › Policies you set from which calendar day of the absence a certificate is needed (1 to 30); if it is missing, HR | base marks the absence with “Medical certificate missing”. If there is a file error, the notification remains saved and a notice asks for it to be submitted later. An upload does not replace checking the content.
The “Team calendar” shows, as a monthly overview, people and days with weekends, public holidays and open requests outlined. For colleagues, employees see only “Absent”; only authorised persons see the reason.
HR and direct line managers reach the “Early support alerts” with a button on the absences page. They evaluate only approved illness and accident absences of the last twelve months, show alerts alphabetically, state days, episodes and short absences against adjustable thresholds and compare groups only from five people. They evaluate no diagnoses, comments or medical certificates and keep no ranking; every view is logged. Whether and what support follows is decided by people.
You will find details on operation in the HR | base guide. Take a look at the Demo or open a test account. If you have questions, we will help you via the Contact page.
Sources
- Code of Obligations (OR, SR 220), Art. 324a, para. 1, Art. 328b and Art. 336c, para. 1 lit. b, as at 1 October 2026: fedlex.admin.ch (German original), accessed on 27.10.2026.
- Federal Act on Data Protection (DSG, SR 235.1), Art. 5 lit. c, Art. 6, paras. 2–4 and Art. 8, para. 1, as at 7 July 2025: fedlex.admin.ch (German original), accessed on 27.10.2026.
- SECO: FAQ on private employment law – Employee prevented from working (in German), accessed on 27.10.2026.
This guide does not replace legal or tax advice. Information as at 27.10.2026.