Facts
[A.], born in 1957, was hired in 2005 by company B. AG as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Europe. His contract provided for a base salary of CHF 320,000 per year as well as participation in an employee incentive plan in the form of "restricted stock units" (RSUs) and "stock options" (SOs). On August 25, 2015, the parties mutually agreed to terminate their contractual relationship for reasons of company restructuring. It was agreed that [A.] would receive a severance payment of CHF 1,490,000 payable in two installments.
[A.] registered with the unemployment insurance at the end of November 2015 and requested the payment of benefits starting December 1, 2015. The Valais cantonal unemployment insurance fund refused to recognize his entitlement to benefits until April 5, 2018, considering that the severance payment covered a loss of employment for 28 months and 4 days.
[A.] appealed against this decision. The Federal Supreme Court ultimately dismissed his appeal.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court considered that only the amounts of CHF 112,535 (salaries related to the 3-month notice period) and CHF 126,000 (maximum insured annual earnings) should be deducted from the severance payment of CHF 1,490,000, the remaining balance of CHF 1,251,465 representing voluntary benefits from the employer covering the loss of income.
According to case law, the loss of employment is not taken into account if voluntary benefits from the employer cover the loss of income resulting from the termination of the employment relationship. These…