Facts
Carl Schläpfer, born in 1947, completed a degree in sociology in Germany and subsequently worked as an editor in Switzerland. After losing his position at the X-Newspaper at the end of March 1983, he remained unemployed apart from a few short-term jobs. In October 1983, he applied to the Cantonal Office for Industry, Commerce and Labor (KIGA) for the granting of daily allowances during a one-year postgraduate program in spatial planning at the Higher Technical Institute Brugg-Windisch. KIGA rejected the application, as it considered the postgraduate program to be part of the basic vocational training and not a measure of retraining or further education under unemployment insurance law.
Schläpfer then filed an administrative court appeal with the Federal Insurance Court. The Federal Office for Industry, Commerce and Labor (BIGA) requested that the appeal be upheld.
Considerations
The Federal Insurance Court concluded that the postgraduate program in spatial planning constitutes a retraining measure under unemployment insurance law. The following criteria were decisive:
- The appellant was unemployed and threatened by unemployment.
- The postgraduate program aimed to improve his employability on the labor market, not primarily for educational, social or economic improvement.
- Given the appellant's age and life situation, such a program would normally…