Facts
Dieter B., born in 1956, had worked as a foreman mason at the construction company W. S. AG, an enterprise subject to the Swiss Accident Insurance Institution (SUVA), since May 1977. In February and March 1983, he took unpaid leave. On May 9, 1983, he suffered serious injuries to his left hand in a work accident. From June 1, 1985, SUVA awarded him a disability pension of 25%, based on an annual income of CHF 38,826.--.
Dieter B. demanded that the annual income relevant for the calculation of the disability pension be increased to CHF 46,060.-- to account for the wages he had foregone during the unpaid leave in February and March 1983. The Civil Court of the Canton of Glarus upheld his complaint and obliged SUVA to determine the disability pension based on an annual income of CHF 46,060.--.
Considerations
The Federal Insurance Court states that according to Article 22, paragraph 4, sentence 2 of the Ordinance on Accident Insurance (UVV), the wages earned within one year prior to the accident with one or more employers, including unpaid wage components to which there is a legal entitlement, shall serve as the basis for the assessment of pensions. If the employment relationship did not last the entire year, the wages earned during that time shall be converted to a full year.
The Court finds that this conversion is not limited to cases where the employment relationship had not yet lasted a full year until the accident. Rather, the decisive factor is the normal…