Facts
The case concerns the question of whether a wage supplement to compensate for vacation entitlement can be taken into account when calculating the contribution period for the entitlement to unemployment compensation. The respondent Q. received unemployment compensation during an initial benefit period until September 8, 2000 and registered again for daily allowance benefits as of February 13, 2001 on February 23, 2001. The Unemployment Insurance Fund of the Canton of Zurich rejected the claim for benefits, as the prerequisite of the fulfilled contribution period was not met.
The Social Insurance Court of the Canton of Zurich upheld Q.'s appeal and overturned the decision. The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) then filed an administrative court appeal with the aim of overturning the cantonal court's decision.
Considerations
The Federal Social Insurance Court concluded that the previous case law, according to which the vacation compensation converted into vacation days or weeks is to be taken into account as additional contribution time when the vacation entitlement is compensated by a wage supplement, cannot be adhered to. This practice leads to unequal treatment of insured persons whose employment relationships within the contribution period only covered full calendar months and who, for time reasons, could not take or not all of their vacation. Furthermore, insured persons with an agreed wage claim during the vacation, who could not actually…