Benefits That Support Your Life
We believe great work starts with the right conditions — our fringe benefits are designed to help you thrive.
Conditions that make a difference
As a public institution, we take our responsibility as an employer seriously. Our fringe benefits are designed to offer fair, transparent, and reliable working conditions. They support work-life balance, wellbeing, and long-term security across different life phases. Below you’ll find an overview of the benefits available to our employees.
Flexible Working
At the SNSF, you can tailor your working hours to your individual needs. Whether through flexible annual working hours, various part-time models or regular remote working, we offer you the opportunity to align your work optimally with your personal situation. Together with your line manager, you will find the model that best fits your life. Evenings and weekends are consciously kept work-free, giving you time to rest, recharge and regain energy.
Vacation and Time Off
Our employees are entitled to between five and seven weeks of vacation per year, depending on age and role. Additional compensatory days are granted when public holidays fall on a weekend. You can transfer positive flextime balances and overtime each year to a sabbatical account. Employees in management positions are entitled to three months of paid leave every five years.
Pension Benefits
Your future matters to us. Our pension scheme provides comprehensive coverage for retirement, disability and death. Retirement can be arranged flexibly, for example through partial retirement or early retirement from the age of 58. The SNSF contributes more than proportionally to savings contributions and covers all risk premiums and administrative costs. You can choose from different pension plans and adjust them on an annual basis.
Training and Personal Development
We actively support your training and professional development with five paid training days per year and financial support. Our internal training programme is continuously expanded and includes, for example, language courses, project management and IT training. More extensive training and development initiatives are agreed on an individual basis, allowing you to achieve your personal and professional goals.
Family-Friendly Workplace and Work–Life Balance
Families are at the heart of what we do.
You receive a significantly above legally required levels family allowance per child. During maternity leave, you receive 17 weeks of full salary continuation, and during paternity leave, 20 days at full pay. Adoption of young children is supported with two months of paid leave. Paid leave is also granted for caring for relatives and for urgent matters related to your children. If balancing family and work becomes challenging, you benefit from dedicated counselling and support services.
Attractive Discounts
As an SNSF employee, you benefit from a wide range of discounts. These include reduced rates on Reka money, IT courses, mobile subscriptions, hardware and software, as well as access to benefit platforms such as Swibeco and Brands for Employees. You also receive discounted access to pension advisory services and sports programmes.
Why We Offer These Benefits
At the Swiss National Science Foundation, fringe benefits are not add‑ons or perks. They are an integral part of how we work and how we care for our people.
Our mission requires focus, integrity and long‑term commitment. That is why we strive to create working conditions that are fair, supportive and sustainable. The benefits we offer reflect our values: trust, responsibility and respect for different life paths.
By investing in our employees’ well‑being, development and flexibility, we create an environment where people can do their best work while contributing meaningfully to the advancement of science and research in Switzerland.
What This Means for You
For you, this means working in an environment that recognizes you as a whole person, not just as a role or a function.
Our benefits are designed to support you throughout different stages of your life and career: by offering flexibility where possible, stability where needed and the freedom to balance professional responsibilities with personal priorities.
Whether you are building expertise, caring for family, pursuing personal interests or simply looking for a workplace built on trust, our fringe benefits aim to make your everyday work life more manageable, sustainable and rewarding.
