Updated measures and information for the corona crisis

Please note: New measures are constantly being developed by the federal government, canton and municipalities. The following information is provided without guarantee and includes the information from the federal press conference on 25.3.2020. Please be sure to obtain information from the relevant offices.

Fiduciaries and accountants: Talk to your fiduciary/accountant and seek advice. Many measures are too company-specific to be listed here. Your trustee/accountant should be the first to advise you on whether a liquidity loan makes sense for you or whether you would be better off without it. Develop scenarios and determine your required liquidity including your cost of living in the short and medium term.

Bank: Loans within 10% of your last year's annual turnover and up to CHF 500'000, should be available in a simplified form for SMEs, with an interest rate of 0%, maturity 5 years. For the exact conditions, contact your bank and see the media release of 25.3.2020 and the instructions on covid19.easygov.swiss.

Cultural sector: Measures to cushion the economic consequences of the coronavirus can be found here. The FOC and Pro Helvetia are working on concrete measures, and Pro Helvetia's Corona Infopoint provides continuously updated information here.

Short-time work: If you employ employees and can prove that they are not working, it is better to apply for short-time work sooner rather than later. Find out more here and from the cantonal offices responsible for business and employment here.

Income replacement scheme for self-employed persons: Self-employed persons (sole proprietorships) can apply for daily allowances if the requirements are met. At present, we recommend that you apply for daily allowances even if not all the requirements are met and collect the rejections in order to press ahead with further measures. Contact your cantonal AHV compensation office/SVA and find out more here. If the worst comes to the worst and you find yourself in an emergency situation, please contact the Social Welfare Office of your municipality.

Rent: Please refer to the latest federal press release here. The Federal Council has raised the deadline for residential and commercial rentals from 30 to 90 days if the tenants are in arrears with payment of the rent due to measures ordered by the authorities to combat coronavirus. If necessary, an additional task force will propose further measures to the Federal Council. In the meantime, it is worth talking to the landlord.

Cantonal measures: We have collected many links here (not exhaustive).

Existing measures with uninterrupted validity: See our blog post from last week.

Information for employers and self-employed persons in connection with coronavirus, status 24.3.2020

Coronavirus: Help for employees and companies in the 1st and 2nd pillar: On 20 and 25.3.2020, the Federal Council took measures to cushion the economic consequences of the further spread of coronavirus for the companies and employees affected.

Information on the extension of short-time working

Liquidity support for companies