A-Z

Whenever possible, medical and therapy appointments should be made during flexitime. The time taken up by such appointments will be credited as working time, but should not exceed one fifth of weekly working hours (in accordance with §26 of the University’s HR regulations). In case of illness, staff must notify their superiors with immediate effect. From the fourth day of illness, a doctor’s certificate must be submitted to HR.

Staff contracted for less than 8 hours per week are only covered against occupational accidents (accidents suffered on the way to work are considered occupational accidents), and are required to take out independent non-occupational accident insurance, unless they are have made other insurance provisions. Staff contracted for 8 hours or more per week are covered by occupational and non-occupational accident insurance. The University of Basel maintains occupational and non-occupational accident insurance policies with the following provider:
Basler Versicherung (Policy 25/2.381.311-8, Hotline: 00800 24 800 800)
Additional accident insurance benefits (Basler Versicherung): In case of accident, staff benefit from private (1st class) hospital accommodation and treatment (Basler Versicherung). In case of death, a lump-sum payment of CHF 40’000 shall be made; in case of disability, the sum shall be CHF 80’000. Premiums for occupational and additional accident insurance are borne entirely by the University. Staff are liable to pay one third of the premium for nonoccupational accident insurance themselves. Special risks due to gross negligence, extraordinary dangers or hazards are insured without benefit cuts. Both occupational and nonoccupational accidents should be reported without delay to HR. For the General Insurance Terms and Conditions (AVB) applying to additional accident insurance, please see «Allgemeine Versicherungsbedingungen».

Staff are requested to notify HR with immediate effect of any change of address, bank account details, marital status, etc.

Staff are eligible for commensurate recognition of longstanding service, specifically on completion of 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, and 40 years of service. Exempt from this regulation are staff funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) or by third parties. In principle, employee anniversary gifts are granted in the form of additional holidays, but staff may also request financial reimbursement instead. Please consult the University’s HR regulations for details. Where staff are awarded tenure or a permanent position, their years of service will be fully accredited.

«The Annual Review and Objectives Agreement» is a performance appraisal tool that provides a stringent framework for the regular establishment of an effective managementstaff dialogue. The tool is tailored to the needs of higher education organisations (academic and administrative staff). Review sessions serve to discuss and define the binding objectives intended to govern management-staff activities and working relations. The University of Basel offers regular induction sessions for staff tasked with using the appraisal tool. For further information, contact Katrin Küchler, Human Resources and Organisational Development (katrin.kuechler@unibas.ch).

Staff are entitled to morning and afternoon breaks of 15 minutes each. Lunch breaks should last at least 30 minutes and are considered taken in each and every case.

AXA Winterthur, our contractual partner for per diem insurance, provides university staff experiencing health problems with professional advice, aimed at preventing or shortening long absences from work as best as possible. If staff are unable to work for a longer period of time (as a rule more than 30 days), HR will arrange for AXA Winterthur to provide expert case management advice where necessary.

Staff ID cards enable staff to purchase food and beverages at SV outlets (university mensa, collegiate building, Biozentrum, physics building, Jakob Burckhardt-Haus, university library) at reduced prices. Staff ID cards also contain a chip that allows staff to load the card to purchase food and beverages at reduced prices at the university hospital’s staff restaurant («Centro») and the cafeteria («Centrino») without paying cash. The card also entitles staff members to free-of-charge account management at Basler Kantonalbank. Mobility Car Sharing offers university staff a reduced membership fee.

On presenting their staff ID card, staff may access the University hospital’s catering facilities where they can purchase food at inexpensive prices. Staff ID cards are available from HR.

On the cessation of their employment at the University of Basel, staff are entitled to a certificate of employment. Certificates should be issued prior to staff leaving the University. On request, staff are entitled to interim employment reports at any time. Staff assuming contractual management responsibilities can request a copy of the guidelines on issuing employment certificates from Human Resources.

Under applicable Swiss health insurance legislation, foreign teaching staff and researchers resident in Switzerland are required to take out compulsory health insurance as of 1 January 2014. Exemptions from this obligation granted until 31 December 2013 shall remain valid until their expiration.

Staff are bound by strict confidentiality in all matters arising in connection with their professional duties and responsibilties, or whenever confidentiality is otherwise deemed necessary.

For the University of Basel’s guidelines on continuing education and further training, please see «Richtlinien für die Weiterbildung». For the current programme, see www.fortbildung.unibas.ch

Staff and management may consult the University’s Office for Personal and Organisational Development for professional and confidential advice with regard to work-related challenges. For details, see www.unibas.ch/personalentwicklung/

The University’s Talent Promotion Office provides expert information on academic careers, especially funding opportunities and available career pathways. See further: www.nachwuchs.unibas.ch

The University’s crèche is open to the children of all University staff members and students. It is located at Herbergsgasse 1, in the immediate vicinity of the Kollegienhaus. To apply for admission, call: +41(0)61 267 30 20

Fixed-term contracts expire at the end of their stipulated duration without notice of termination. Permanent contracts are terminated either by resignation, dismissal, or staff reaching retirement age. Employment ends automatically with a staff member’s claim to full incapacity benefit. Contracts can be terminated upon mutual consent at any point in time.

The IT-Services will automatically create a new e-mail account for new staff. Account details will be sent by post to incoming staff. For further information, please see http://its.unibas.ch/.

For each calendar year, German and French cross-border commuters are required to submit two copies of a resident’s certificate (i.e., «Attestation de résidence») of their own accord. Without this certificate, the University of Basel is legally obliged to deduct the full amount of TDS (i.e., tax deducted at source).

On submitting appropriate receipts, staff are entitled to reclaim travel, food, and accommodation expenses incurred while performing necessary university duties and responsibilties. Special reimbursement regulations apply to lecturers, tutors, and assistants. For the University’s expenses reimbursement policy and regulations, see «Spesenreglement».

Applications for family allowance should be submitted to the Family Compensation Fund (FAK). The application form «Application for Child Benefit and Family Allowance» is available for download. Please send the completed form and all necessary documents to your HR officer. On receipt of the submitted application, the Family Compensation Fund will decide on a family allowance payment. Payments are effected by the University. Family allowance per child: CHF 200.00 per month for children up to the age of 16 (not in training); CHF 250.00 per month for children aged 16 to 25 (in training, without income. Please notify HR of any changes to your marital status, the number of children, place of residence, your partner’s employment, etc. For further details on family allowances, see www.ak-bs.ch.

Fixed-term employment contracts are issued to junior assistants, assistants, assistant professors (tenured and nontenured), sessional lecturers, as well as staff funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) and by other third parties, as well as project staff. All other university staff are as a rule contracted on a permanent basis; arrangements for fixed-term employment may be made in exceptional cases and are subject to appropriate reasons being given.

Staff are entitled to independently determine their working hours within the University’s flexitime scheme. Flexitime comprises core working hours and discretionary flexible hours.

Core working hours are: Monday to Friday, 09.00–11.00 and 14.00–16.00. Absences for personal reasons should be avoided during core hours. Staff may decide when they wish to commence and finish their working hours within the following bandwidths: Mondays to Fridays, 06.00– 09.00, 11.00–14.00, and 16.00–20.00. Staff are entitled to make special arrangements with their line managers. Heads of department and staff line managers are responsible for ensuring the correct management of the University’s flexitime scheme.

Staff are strictly prohibited from accepting gifts (with the exception of items of small value), and from assuming or claiming any kind of advantage either for themselves or for third parties.

Dismissals and redundancies will be effected by HR by order of the respective unit. During probation periods, both parties may terminate employment relations by giving seven days’ notice. Prior to employment being terminated on account of lacking staff suitability or for improper conduct, at least one performance review shall have been conducted and an adequate period of time for amelioration shall have been granted. In case of employment being terminated without any individual fault, staff are entitled to statutory severance pay, providing they have reached the age of 50, have given 10 years of service to the University, and where employment at the University has constituted their principal source of income.

Groups are associations of University members belonging to one or several categories with regard to University elections and representation on University boards and committees.

Group I:
Fully tenured professors, tenure-track assistant professors, SNF funded professors

Group II:
Non-tenure-track assistant professors, lecturers, associate professors, adjunct professors, private lecturers, research associates with teaching commitments

Group III:
Assistants and doctoral candidates at the University of Basel

Group IV:
Research, technical, and administrative staff without teaching commitments

Group V: Students

For further details, see the respective passages in the Statute of the University of Basel and the information about the respective groups on the University homepage.

The University of Basel is strongly committed to ensuring occupational health and safety for all its staff. The University takes all necessary measures to raise staff awareness of occupational health and safety. The University grants staff full rights to early and comprehensive information and to hearings concerning occupational health and safety.

Staff may take out health insurance at reduced rates with the insurance companies listed below. Each company offers a wide range of insurance products and services. Please view the following links for further information and to establish which provider best meets your needs:

Sympany
www.sympany.ch/unibas
Peter Merian-Weg 4, 4002 Basel
Telephone 0800 655 655 Contract-No.1002200

Sanitas
www.sanitas-corporate.ch
Postfach 309, 8304 Wallisellen
Telephone 0800 22 88 44 Contract-No. K004070

CSS
www.css.ch
Theaterstrasse 18, 4010 Basel
Telephone 0844 277 277 Contract-No. 2025937

Swica
www.swica.ch/basel-stadt
Aeschenplatz 2, 4010 Basel
Telephone 0800 809 080 Contract-No. 170 / 3003 / 1498797

In case of longer absences due to illness or accident, statutory holiday leaves will be curtailed by one twelfth (1/12) for every full month, with effect from the second month of consecutive absence.

Staff are entitled to 25 days of paid annual holiday leave.
This period increases to 27 days per annum from the age of 50, and to 30 days from the age of 60. At least two weeks of annual holiday leave should be taken consecutively. University units are responsible for monitoring staff holiday leaves.

For HR staff contact details, please see page 7 below.

For the University’s HR regulations, please consult the download section.

On principle, staff salaries are adjusted to inflation on an annual basis. The University Council reserves the right to not adjust salaries to inflation in well-founded cases.

For details on duties, obligations, and due diligence arising in connection with IT resources and data protection, see the University’s «Reglement über den Umgang mit universitären Informatikmitteln».

Up-to-date job descriptions should be available on staff commencing employment. Job descriptions will provide a clear statement of duties and responsibilities. A Job Description template is available in the download section.

Only staff eligible for family allowance pursuant to a corresponding decision of the Family Compensation Fund (FAK) may claim such benefits. Eligible staff should submit their applications for family allowance to the University of Basel. Please download the necessary form the download section.

Allowances (2013):
one child CHF 412.65 per month
two children CHF 504.75 per month
three children CHF 540.15 per month
four or more children CHF 568.25 per month.

Staff are eligible for 16 weeks of paid maternity leave; leave can commence two weeks prior to the expected date of childbirth at the earliest. Five days of paternity leave are granted to biological fathers. Following maternity, respectively paternity leave, staff are entitled to a period of max. 16 weeks of unpaid leave, which may be extended subject to mutual consent. For terms and conditions applying in the case of adoption, please consult the University’s HR regulations. Applications for maternity benefit must be made by mothers following childbirth. Application forms are available from HR or can be downloaded from the download section. On completing Part “A,” staff should send this to HR together with a valid birth certificate or family booklet.

Where overtime is requested or approved, it shall be compensated by the same amount of time off. Should operational reasons make overtime compensation impossible, it shall be compensated by standard payment (i.e. no enhanced rate of payment will apply). Should overtime be requested less than 3 days in advance, staff shall be entitled to an additional 25% time off or surcharge payment. Teaching staff as well as middle and senior management staff are not eligible to claim compensation for overtime.

Permanent staff are pensioned at the age of 65 (male and female). Early retirement is possible from the age of 60. Fixed-contract staff are pensioned at the age of 65 (male and female). Early retirement is possible from the age of 58.

The pension accounts of permanent staff are administered by the Canton of Basel-Stadt Pension Fund; those of fixedterm and temporary staff are administered by the Canton of Basel-Land Pension Fund. For the corresponding pension fund regulations, see the University homepage.

All members of staff shall bear one third of the costs for their per diem sickness indemnity. On leaving the University, staff may transfer to an individual insurance within ninety (90) days without a health check. Staff wishing to effect their right of transfer should notify the insurance provider AXA Winterthur in writing.

In individual cases, the University reserves the right to enter into private law employment contracts, subject to the Swiss Code of Obligations (OR). The contracts of staff and junior assistants funded by third parties and by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) are subject to private law.

All staff are subject to a statutory probation period of three (3) months. Probation periods may not be extended.

Following the completion of a probation period, employment shall not be terminated in the following cases: during compulsory national service; during sickness or accident arising through no fault of the individual (for a period of 90 days in the first year of service; for a period of 180 days as of the second year of service); during pregnancy and during the first 16 weeks following childbirth; during involvement in relief work abroad.

Each year, the University Rectorate publishes a list of public holidays and days off. Staff are entitled to offset public holidays that fall within their holiday leave. Public holidays that fall on work-free Saturdays and Sundays are exempt from this regulation.

The terms and conditions of employment of all staff (with the exception of junior assistants, trainees, interns, and clinical staff attached to the Faculty of Medicine) are stipulated in the University’s HR regulations. Employment is subject to the Swiss Code of Obligations (OR), with the proviso that staff funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation or by other third parties are subject to the employment regulations of the individual funding body.

Given important reasons, the University reserves the right to terminate employment at the end of a probation period, in writing and by stating reasons for the termination of contract. The reasons for terminating the employment of staff contracted under public law are stated in the University’s HR regulations. Private law contracts are governed by the Swiss Code of Obligations (OR). Contracts may be terminated at any time by mutual consent.

Salaries are paid in twelve (12) or 13 (thirteen) equal monthly instalments (subject to specific contractual terms and conditions). Subject to eligibility, a thirteenth-month salary is paid at the end of November. Subsequent to commencement or termination of employment during any given calendar year, staff members are eligible for a pro-rata share of their thirteenth-month salary. For details, see the University’s Salary Regulations.

For information on the tax treatment of daily illness or accident allowances and pension contributions in the case of cross-border commuters resident in Germany, please see the information sheet in the download section.

Subsequent to a successfully completed probation period, staff are entitled to continued salary payment in case of illness or accident for the duration of their employment, yet not in excess of 730 days and at a maximum rate of 100% of their AHV-liable salary (AHV = “Swiss state insurance scheme for retired persons and surviving dependants”).

Salary classification and salary grading will be undertaken on new staff commencing their employment. Decisions will be made according to their job description, with specific reference to previous training and further training requirements, necessary experience, and the complexity of the roles and responsibilities involved. Classification will be undertaken by HR. Salary levels are adjusted every year. The University Council reserves the right to suspend salary level increases.

Staff will receive salary statements only if a change of their employment status has occurred from one month to the next. Staff will receive a salary statement in January. Staff wishing to receive a monthly salary statement should contact Human Resources.

All staff are subject to the University’s regulations on secondary employment and additional commitments entered into alongside their contractual duties and responsibilities, agreements made with third parties, and the use of intellectual property. Secondary employment is subject to disclosure and staff must seek official consent to enter into any such obligations; staff are required to submit an appropriate declaration to the University Rectorate on an annual basis. For details you can download the corresponding form from the download section.

All forms of sexual harassment are strictly prohibited. Staff affected by sexual harassment at their workplace should contact the contacts or the investigator.

On submitting a doctor’s certificate, staff are entitled to compensate sick days or days they were forced to take off due to an accident occurring during holiday leave (but not during unpaid leave) from the first sick day onward.

Staff are entitled to use the University’s sports facilities and recreation programme. For details, see http://www.unisport.unibas.ch/

Staff are required to submit their resignation to HR in writing without exception. Staff are not obliged to state reasons for giving notice. During probation periods, both parties may terminate employment with seven days’ notice.

Staff are entitled to a staff ID card free of charge. Following the issuing of their employment contract, new staff will receive a collection coupon. No cards are issued to junior assistants, auxiliary staff, and doctoral students, since individuals holding such positions already have a student ID card. Staff contracted for less than 20% are issued a staff ID card on request. Further details are mentioned on the collection coupon. Upon ceasing employment at the University of Basel, staff must return their ID card by post to HR. For further details on staff ID cards, please see the section on “Catering and Concessions.”

The general terms and conditions of employment applicable at the University of Basel are as a rule subject to public law. Staff and junior assistants (Hilfsassistierende) funded by third parties or by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) are issued contracts subject to private law.

Terms and periods of notice are stipulated in each staff member’s employment contract.

The information sheets are available in the download section.

University members are entitled to the free-of-charge use of all university library (UB) services. Staff ID cards are automatically valid as library cards at the UB and throughout the entire Basel/Bern information network. Services include book and DVD loans, access to all online databases and electronic media, and access to training programmes, guided tours, and events. For an overview of services, see www.ub.unibas.ch.

Unpaid leave is subject to approval by the respective University unit. A corresponding pro rata reduction in pay and a pro rata reduction of the thirteenth month salary will apply. Should the period of unpaid leave exceed one month, staff are liable to pay the University’s share of the pension fund premium. Staff taking unpaid leave in excess of one month should consult HR about insurance possibilities. Nonoccupational accident insurance will expire after 30 days unpaid leave. An extension of max. 180 days (at a rate of CHF 25.00 per month) is possible. For details and forms, please contact HR. Staff taking unpaid leave in excess of one month may opt to pay the employer pension fund contributons for that period. Should staff take unpaid leave, family and maintenance allowances will be paid out for the month in which leave commences and for the subsequent three months. Following an interruption of employment due to a leave of unpaid absence, family allowances may be claimed from the first day of that month in which work is resumed. Staff taking unpaid leave for longer than one month will have their holiday claims cut from the first month.

Full-time staff are contracted for 42 hours per week. Working hours for part-time staff are calculated on the basis of full-time working hours. For further details, please see the section on ”Flexitime” below.

Should either severe and/or significant difficulties or conflicts arise at your workplace, please contact the University’s Office for Staff and Organisational Development. For questions concerning employment law, please contact your designated HR officer.