Facts
The plaintiff A. had been employed as an unskilled worker by the defendant X. AG since February 1995. In April 1997, he suffered an accident at the workplace and was no longer able to work thereafter. After the SUVA discontinued its previous coverage of medical costs and daily allowances in November 1997, A. received sickness allowances from the collective insurance SUPRA. As of April 1, 1998, he was awarded a disability pension, upon which the employer terminated the employment relationship as of July 31, 1998. At that point, A. transferred to an individual insurance with SUPRA, which provided the same daily allowances as the collective insurance until November 7, 1999.
In February 2000, A. filed a lawsuit against X. AG for payment of CHF 10,635.05 plus 5% interest since April 1, 1999. He claimed that he had been forced to pay the premiums for the individual insurance from August 1, 1998 to November 1999 himself, although the applicable national collective labor agreement (LMV) stipulated that no premiums had to be paid during illness.
Considerations
According to the wording and system of the National Collective Labor Agreement for the Swiss Construction Industry (LMV), the employer is obligated to take out a sickness allowance insurance that provides the employee with daily allowances for at least 720 days within 900 consecutive days and exempts him from paying the insurance premiums during this time. These obligations of the employer can, according to the meaning and purpose of the provisions, also continue to exist after…