Family Benefits (Family and Education Allowances)

People with children may apply for a family allowance. Allowances can be requested for your own children as well as, under certain conditions, for stepchildren, foster children, siblings and grandchildren. Per child, only one allowance will be issued. If you have multiple employers, the allowance is paid by the employer paying the highest salary.

Fact sheet on the Family Allowances Act (FamZG)

Please note the following important change regarding the application for and administration of family allowances for UZH professors.
 
The Social Insurance Institution of the Canton of Zurich (SVA) handles the administrative processing of family allowances (checking the entitlement and issuing the allowance decision) for the University of Zurich. To verify whether the requirements for eligibility are met and to issue allowance decisions, SVA needs the necessary information. Therefore, employees must submit their applications, documentation for educational allowances, and notifications of any changes directly to the SVA. They will then check if the requirements are met.

Approved family allowances are recorded in SAP-HR by the HR administration of  the Professorship Department, and the allowance is paid out (monthly) through the salary.

Procedure

New Registrations (due to New Employment or Family Increase)
Please contact the Professorships Department familienzulagen@prof.uzh.ch in this regard. They will send you a personalized link via email. With this link, you can access the registration form and initiate the review process by submitting your data to the SVA. You will then receive an allowance decision directly from the SVA. Please note that you will need the child's AHV or social security number (756.xxxx.xxxx.xx) for registration.

Reporting a Change
To report a change, there is currently a notification form for employees (in German). As an employee, you must complete this form and submit it directly to the SVA by web form.  Please note that you will need the child's AHV or social security number (756.xxxx.xxxx.xx) for registration.

Extension of Educational Allowances

For educational allowances that expire, the SVA will send the form to your residential address by mail. The completed forms must then be returned to the SVA along with the necessary documents (e.g., apprenticeship contract or school/enrolment confirmation). Please be sure to include the accounting number of the UZH F55.192.

If you have not received a request from the SVA one month before the expiry of the educational allowances, we kindly ask you to submit the documents for extension through the SVA notification form for employees (in German).
Submitting documents without the necessary employee identification details may lead to delays.

Family benefits are paid out by UZH with your monthly salary.
 

Duty to report

It is your responsibility to always report any changes in your personal circumstances or changes affecting the child in connection with family allowances immediately and without being asked in writing to both the SVA notification form for employees (in German) and the Professorships Department familienzulagen@prof.uzh.ch

 
This includes in particular events such as:

• Birth/death or departure of a child from Switzerland;
• Beginning/termination or discontinuation of a child's education;
• Separation/divorce or changes in parental care;
• Higher/lower annual gross income due to the other parent taking up/giving up gainful employment and change of canton in which the other parent is gainfully employed or in which the child resides;
• Other similar changes in you/the child.

Unjustified receipt of benefits and violation of reporting obligations are punishable by law.
 
We would also like to refer you to the further information (incl. updated information sheet) on family allowances, which you can access via the links below.
 

Contact
 
If you have any further questions or difficulties, please contact the Professorships Department familienzulagen@prof.uzh.ch
Maria Marciello, Phone 044 634 20 25 or familienzulagen@prof.uzh.ch
Nicole Mosimann, Phone 044 634 20 38 or familienzulagen@prof.uzh.ch

 Thank you for your appropriate consideration and timely cooperation.
 Your responsible team of the Professorships Department.

Family benefits are paid as follows (as at January 2025):

In the Canton of Zurich, family allowances consist of age-dependent child allowances and education allowances.
As a rule, your child enters the Kindergarten or the Introductory Level when he or she reaches the age of four (the cut-off date is 31 July).

a) Child allowance

• The child allowance in the Canton of Zurich amounts to CHF 215.- per month per child until the end of the month in which the child reaches the age of 12 (12th birthday);
• Thereafter (between age 12 to age 15/16) it amounts to CHF 268.- per child;
• If the child is incapable of working (Art. 7 ATSG), the allowance is paid until the child reaches the age of 20.

b) Education allowance:

• For young people in education the following applies: from the end of the month in which the child reaches the age of 16 – or from the age of 15 if the child is 15 years old at the start of the education (cut-off date 31 July) and has completed compulsory schooling – until completion of education, but no longer than until the end of the month in which the child reaches the age of 25 (25th birthday), there is an education allowance of CHF 268.- per child.