This is my first time posting on reddit, I have always been a silent reader. Sorry for the long story, maybe someone can relate or has guidance on what to do. TL;DR: Employer doesn’t accept nullity of the termination during Sperrfrist / pregnancy and I don’t know whether to sue or not. Background: First year at my new job (not in probationary period anymore). Very small company, I am the only female employee and my boss is also the owner of the company. The relationship with my boss is okay, although he is a bit of a difficult character, rather passive-aggressive, avoiding conflict and criticizing indirectly or behind people’s back. But nothing I can’t handle. I was pregnant for the first time, but haven’t told my employer yet as it is too early. I am already researching childcare options around the office, determined to continue working full time after maternity leave. Fast forward to April 1st: I start bleeding, call my Hausarzt as the gynecologist was closed that day. They tell me to go to the hospital right away to see if there’s anything that can be done. I remember sitting on the bus to the hospital thinking about the irony of this happening on April Fool’s Day. I sent my boss a Teams message saying that I won’t be able to come to the office for medical reasons. At the hospital, they do all the checks, bloodwork etc., say that they don’t know yet what will happen to the pregnancy. Tell me to come back for blood analysis two days later to find out more as it might be an ectopic pregnancy (which can be fatal). They put me on sick leave for two days until Easter as I don’t feel fit to work for psychological reasons. After the second bloodwork, they tell me that I lost the pregnancy and that they will have to continue monitoring for an ectopic pregnancy. I spend Easter with my family, trying to process what happened. The day after Easter, I go back to work as usual. My boss was busy with another employee, I start working on my topics. When he is done, he suddenly asks me “what I was working on, if he may ask” and starts complaining about a document I wrote the week before. Not in a constructive kind of way, sitting down together looking at the document and looking at the specific points he criticizes. Instead, mentioning different points of critique in one sentence without any structure, exaggerating the points (as later turned out), saying things like “I don’t understand how this could have happened [that you write a bad report like this]” or “we had to take over as we didn’t know when you would be back” (in an accusatory tone). Basically, he says (in front of the other coworkers) “we have to look at your report later, because all is bad”, and then lists all the points he thinks are bad, without details. So far, my boss had been content with my written reports, but this type of report was new for me and my boss had not been available the week prior to discuss the details. That is why my plan was to write a draft (as I did) and discuss the details after my return. I tell him that we should look at the report now, as I have to go back to the hospital in the afternoon and don’t know if I may need surgery in the future. I didn’t give any details, but the doctor’s note is from “Frauenklinik” and “Brustzentrum”, so for all he knows I may also have breast cancer. I go over the report with the coworker (turns out, the boss has not even read the report himself) and it’s not as bad as he made it sound. I do a handover with the coworker in case I am absent the next day. At the hospital, they still don’t know much more. Basically, after having tried to get pregnant for months, you now have to wait until you are chemically not pregnant anymore, so you’re doing blood analysis hoping the Beta-hCG goes down to zero. I got another sick note as I couldn’t deal with the stress at work and this situation at the same time. During this time, I also sought help from a psychiatrist. I had to go to the hospital regularly during the next two weeks, during which they put me on sick leave (100%). The week of April 27th, I was planning to go back to work 50% for one week, after that full time. The beta-hCG was still not low enough, but it was going down so I knew then that I luckily wouldn’t have to undergo surgery. My usual gynecologist took over my care so I didn’t have to go to the hospital anymore for future tests. April 27th, I go to the office and my boss calls me in for a meeting. They give me a written termination letter (3 months notice period according to the contract). Nothing surprising there as I know that employers don’t need a reason to fire you. I was actually relieved as I was thinking about leaving myself because this work environment was bad for my health and for future pregnancies. What took me by surprise was that they told me that I wouldn’t receive a salary for the current month. I knew that I had a Krankentaggeldversicherung, but what I didn’t know was that they had a 3-month waiting period. I had previously been on sick leave after a planned surgery, so the days of gesetzliche Lohnfortzahlung for that year had already expired. I asked for garden leave during the notice period and they said no, there was no issue with me continuing to work as usual until the end of the contract. This is honestly a bad business decision as I work in a very sensitive field, but I guess the boss knew that my health would not allow me to continue working there. I signed for the reception of the termination letter and asked them to leave early that day as I was on 50% sick leave and had a lot to process. Finished up some tasks, emptied my desk and left. The same day, I saw my psychiatrist and got a 100% sick note (in addition to the 50% I already had from the hospital). I also registered for RAV that very day. I have been on sick leave since then. My degree of incapacity for work has been gradually decreasing, but it remains 100% “arbeitsplatzbezogen”. I didn’t get any money whatsoever for three months, after that the sickness insurance started paying. Had some discussions with Arbeitslosenkasse who of course don’t want me on RAV and claim that my employer has to pay and the termination is null. Had a lawyer look over my documents (which cost me almost CHF 500 as I didn’t have Rechtsschutz at the time). She told me that the termination is indeed probably null because it was during the 30-day Sperrfrist (they should have waited until May to fire me) and possibly also because I was still technically pregnant at the time. She advised me to disclose the lost pregnancy to my employer and to claim the nullity of the termination, which I did. My employer replied that the termination was valid in their view and requested documentation of the pregnancy (which I provided). They also sent me my Arbeitszeugnis which was quite bad. Since they refused the nullity of the termination, I filed for a Schlichtungsverfahren. One day before the Schlichtungsverhandlung, the Schlichter informs me that my boss will come with a lawyer. I was previously told that a Schlichtungsverfahren could also be done without a lawyer, but if I had known earlier I would of course have hired a lawyer. So I only went with my husband for moral support. Needless to say this was emotionally very difficult for me. The lawyer had a long list of “questions”/statements like “why does the doctor’s note say “Krankheit” and not “Schwangerschaftskomplikationen”” (I don’t know, you have to ask the hospital - probably because it’s none of my employer’s business), “why does the doctor’s note say I was pregnant from April 1st when I said I was pregnant earlier” (that was the day it was proven by blood test) etc.; Overall you could see that he had no clue about how pregnancies work and just threw things at me to intimidate me. Their standpoint was that the termination was not null, without any proper justification. There was no proposition of signing a termination agreement or anything. This really took me by surprise as I was expecting them to try to settle (I heard that Schlichtungsverfahren often end in a settlement). Also, there would be a reputation loss for the company as the business activity has to do with courts and lawyers. But no, it seems like my employer is bluffing that I won’t take the risk of taking him to court. And he might be right as I don’t have Rechtsschutz and there is probably not much to gain financially in my case (depending on how long my Krankentaggeldversicherung pays). The Schlichter also said that the termination was probably null, but since I am arbeitsplatzbezogen arbeitsunfähig it’s not sure what I would gain from it. It would depend on whether the sickness allowance pays. So here I am. For now, the sickness insurance pays. But I am worried that if I don’t pursue the nullity claim, they will at one point reclaim the money paid. I guess if I did not sue, I would count as unemployed since August, and I would retrospectively be on RAV since then - except that I don’t get RAV while I am on sick leave. I am pregnant again, trying to focus on my mental health and on keeping this pregnancy. Looking for a new job, but as we all know the job market is difficult at the moment and I am also worried that I might end up in a worse situation than now if I get fired during the probationary period when they find out I’m pregnant. Would you fight this or just move on? I think psychologically, I would regret not fighting it. But financially, going to court might not be the best decision. SORRY again for the long text. And thank you if you have read this far. Any thoughts on my situation? submitted by /u/Frequent-Cry230
Originally posted by u/Frequent-Cry230 on r/Switzerland