Facts
[A.], born in 1952, was last employed by the Federal Government. The employer terminated the employment relationship without notice. [A.] then registered for unemployment benefits as of May 2, 2014 on May 26, 2014. The beco Berner Wirtschaft, Arbeitslosenkasse Kanton Bern (beco), deducted occupational pension benefits, according to the information provided by the Federal Pension Fund PUBLICA, based on a provisional withdrawal of retirement assets of CHF 860,017.95, from the unemployment benefits paid out. This capital was seized by the Federal Prosecutor's Office within the framework of a criminal proceeding against [A.] on suspicion of breach of official duty and fraud, with a seizure order dated May 8, 2014 at PUBLICA.
[A.] filed a complaint against the decision of the beco to deduct the pension benefits from the unemployment benefits. The Administrative Court of the Canton of Bern dismissed the complaint. [A.] then filed an appeal in public law matters with the Federal Supreme Court.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court dismissed the appeal. It stated that occupational pension benefits are to be deducted from unemployment benefits, regardless of whether they are paid out in the form of an annuity or a lump-sum withdrawal. Even if the pension assets are seized within the framework of criminal proceedings, this does not change the offsetting against the unemployment benefits.
The Federal Supreme Court justified this by stating…