Leaving a Swiss union 2026: template and notice periods
We read the statutes of 8 Swiss trade unions and put their exit rules side by side: notice period, exit date, form, recipient and the special cases for retirement, changing jobs and finishing an apprenticeship. The ConvivaPlus Union Exit Calculator shows you, for any date, when you are out. The template comes as Word and PDF, for resigning and for transferring.
Notice by union: six months, but not the same exit
At syndicom, every month end is an exit date; at Unia and Syna, only 31 December. All three require six months' notice. According to the ConvivaPlus exit comparison, a letter sent on 1 July means waiting 7 months at syndicom and 18 at Unia and Syna. The difference is not the notice period, but how often a year the door opens.
Of the 8 statutes we read, 3 open the door once a year (Unia, Syna and Hotel & Gastro Union), 4 twice (SEV, VPOD, PVB and transfair) and one every month (syndicom). The table gives exit date, notice, form and special cases, with a link to the statutes. The calculator below works out your date.
| Union | Exit on | Notice | Form | Special cases | Statutes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UniaSGB | 31 December | 6 months | registered | apprenticeship end: 3 mo. · SGB transfer | Art. 9 Abs. 1 |
| SEVSGB | 30 June or 31 December | 6 months | paper or email | job outside field: 3 mo. · SGB transfer · minimum 1 year | Art. 6.1 |
| syndicomSGB | any month end | 6 months | in writing by post | retirement, only if health limited or needing help: 1 mo. (exception) · SGB transfer | Art. 10 |
| VPODSGB | 30 June or 31 December | 6 months | in writing | retirement: 1 mo. · job outside field: 1 mo. · SGB transfer · longer periods reserved where benefits claimed | Art. 5 Abs. 1 |
| PVBSGB | 30 June or 31 December | 6 months | in writing | retirement: 3 mo. · job outside field: 3 mo. · SGB transfer | Art. 6 |
| SynaTravail.Suisse | 31 December | 6 months | registered | none in the statutes | Ziff. 6.2 |
| transfairTravail.Suisse | 30 June or 31 December | 3 months | in writing | none in the statutes | Art. 9.2 |
| Hotel & Gastro UnionTravail.Suisse | 31 December | 3 months | registered | none in the statutes | Ziff. 46 |
Read on 13 November 2026 in the unions' statutes (link per row). Not legal advice.
✊ ConvivaPlus Union Exit Calculator
Pick your union and a date: you see the earliest date you can leave and by when the letter has to go. Calculated from the statutes.
Statutes read on 13.11.2026. Not legal advice.
Shortest notice: 3 months, and not at Unia
The shortest regular notice is not at Unia: transfair lets you go with 3 months' notice, twice a year, on 30 June or 31 December. Write by the end of March and you are out at the end of June. Nobody there waits longer than 9 months.
Hotel & Gastro Union also asks for only 3 months, with one particularity: the postmark does not count, the day the letter reaches Lucerne does. For 31 December it must be there by 30 September. Send it on 1 October and you are out only after 15 months.
Hotel & Gastro Union statutes (German original)
«Der Austritt aus der Hotel & Gastro Union kann auf den 31. Dezember eines Jahres erklärt werden. Die Austrittserklärung muss schriftlich mit eingeschriebenem Brief erfolgen und spätestens drei Monate vor dem Austrittstermin im Besitz der Geschäftsstelle in Luzern sein.»Hotel & Gastro Union, Statuten Ziff. 46, Statuten, Stand Delegiertenversammlung 2024
Resign by email? Only one statute says so expressly
Only one statute mentions email expressly: SEV accepts notice on paper or by email. Unia, Syna and Hotel & Gastro Union require a registered letter instead, and syndicom wants notice in writing by post. For these four, the statutes rule email out.
VPOD, PVB and transfair only require written form and do not say whether email counts. Send it registered anyway: the receipt proves the date, and the date decides half a year. Unia, SEV and VPOD also declare collective resignations invalid. There, every member sends their own letter, even if a whole team leaves.
SEV statutes (German original)
«Der Austritt kann nur auf den 30. Juni oder den 31. Dezember erfolgen, wobei eine Kündigungsfrist von sechs Monaten einzuhalten ist (Artikel 70 ZGB). Die Kündigung kann sowohl auf Papier als auch per E-Mail erfolgen und ist an das Zentralsekretariat SEV zu richten, mit Ausnahme der Mitglieder des Unterverbands PV, welche die Kündigung an die zuständige Sektion zu richten haben.»SEV, Statuten Art. 6.1, Statuten, Kongress SEV vom 13. Juni 2025
On retirement: one month at VPOD, up to 18 at Unia
Same retirement, two worlds: at VPOD you are out 1 month after giving notice, at Unia it can take up to 18 months, because its statutes make no exception for retirees. At VPOD, the end of the month you leave your job is what counts. The same applies if you give up your profession, become unemployed or take a job outside the union's field. At PVB it is 3 months on retirement or when leaving the employer, outside the usual dates. syndicom allows 1 month only as an exception, for retired members whose health is limited or who can no longer manage their own affairs. VPOD reserves longer periods set by regulation where benefits have been claimed.
The SEV statutes contain no retirement rule either. Unia only has the exception for people finishing an apprenticeship: 3 months to the end of the year. At SEV, notice drops to 3 months if you leave its field of organisation, counted at the earliest from the end of that month. And at SEV the minimum membership is 1 year. If your case is not in the statutes, ask the office before you write: regulations may allow more. What your pension then pays is worked out on the AHV pension page.
VPOD statutes, Art. 5 para. 2 (German original)
«Bei Berufsaufgabe, Pensionierung, Erwerbslosigkeit oder Übertritt in eine Stelle ausserhalb des Organisationsbereichs des VPOD kann der Austritt nach vorangegangener einmonatiger Kündigung erfolgen, frühestens aber auf das Monatsende, an dem die Stelle verlassen wird.»VPOD, statutes Art. 5 para. 2, Statuten 2024 (Download-Stand 1. Januar 2024)
Switching unions: faster than leaving
Switching is faster than leaving. If you leave your union's field, for example with a new job in another sector, and move at the same time to another union of the Swiss Trade Union Federation (SGB), you do not sit out six months: at Unia at any time, at SEV, VPOD and PVB from the start of the next month, at syndicom at any month end. A new job in the same sector is not enough.
The rule only applies within the SGB. Syna, transfair and Hotel & Gastro Union belong to the other umbrella body, Travail.Suisse. Moving from Unia to Syna therefore means the normal notice period. The details for Unia are under Cancel Unia membership. What the collective agreement in your new sector pays is shown under wages by sector.
Transfer without full notice: the 17 SGB full members
- Unia
- SEV
- syndicom
- VPOD
- PVB
- SBPV
- AvenirSocial
- SSM
- garaNto
- SMPV
- kapers
- SPV
- SMV
- HelvetiCA
- Nautilus International
- ESPA
- New Wood
Source: SGB, affiliated unions, checked on 13 November 2026. Associate members are not listed.
Fees until you leave: writing late costs up to a year
Your membership does not end on the day you send the letter. Unia, syndicom and Hotel & Gastro Union say expressly that you pay fees until the end of the notice period. A missed deadline therefore extends membership by twelve months at Unia, Syna and Hotel & Gastro Union, by six at VPOD, SEV, PVB and transfair, and by one at syndicom.
The chart shows the longest possible wait per union, that is a letter sent one day after the last deadline. ConvivaPlus calculated it from the statutes. The amount of your fee in francs is in the unions' regulations, not in the statutes.
Calculated by ConvivaPlus from the statutes: letter sent one day after the last deadline, months until you leave.
The same six months' notice: at syndicom 7 months' wait at most, at Unia up to 18.
Leaving under the Civil Code: Unia and Syna use the full legal period
Leaving Unia is governed by the same article of law as leaving a gym club. Unions are associations; Syna, syndicom, SEV and VPOD say so in article 1 of their statutes. And Unia and Syna apply exactly the rule the Swiss Civil Code sets for any association: six months' notice to the end of the calendar year. SEV even refers expressly to Art. 70 of the Civil Code in its exit article.
None of the eight statutes is stricter than the law. Shorter is possible: transfair, Hotel & Gastro Union and syndicom show that a union can offer more exit dates or a shorter period. Rules for other notices are in our overview Termination letter Switzerland. There is no official English version of Swiss federal law; the paraphrase below is ours.
Civil Code, Art. 70 para. 2 (paraphrase, no official English version)
«Every member is entitled by law to leave the association, provided they announce it six months before the end of the calendar year or, where an administrative period is provided for, six months before its end.»ZGB Art. 70 para. 2, Fassung vom 1. Juli 2026
Union resignation template: one letter for every union, as Word and PDF
One sentence in the letter saves you a second letter: if your notice is too late for your date, it asks straight away for the next one. Without it, you write again in spring. And since the eight statutes differ in only four things, exit date, notice, recipient and form, one letter fits them all. The date comes from the calculator; fill in the union, the article and the recipient from the table.
The second template is for transferring to another SGB union. Both come as Word to edit and PDF to print. Sign by hand, send it registered and ask for written confirmation of your exit date. If you resign for someone else, enclose a power of attorney. Templates for your job, flat and insurance are under Termination letter Switzerland.
Leaving a union: Word and PDF template
Two letters for any union: resignation and transfer. Fill in the fields, copy the letter or download the file.
For any union: enter the date from the calculator and the article and recipient from the table, then send it by registered mail.
[First name Last name] [Street, postcode, town] Registered mail [recipient from the table, street, postcode, town] [place, date] Resignation from [name of the union], membership number [membership number] Dear Sir or Madam I hereby resign my membership of [name of the union] with effect from [date from the Union Exit Calculator]. Basis: [Art. …] of your statutes. If this notice is too late for that date, I ask to leave at the next possible date. Please confirm my resignation in writing, stating the date on which my membership ends, and stop collecting contributions from that date. Kind regards [First name Last name] Signature: ____________________
to edit · to print
⚖️ Template, not legal advice. Notice periods and channels checked against the statutes, as of 13.11.2026.
Where to send it: not always head office
At Unia, the best-known address is the wrong one: its statutes want notice not at head office in Bern but at the competent region or section, which Unia's search finds by your workplace postcode. At VPOD to the regional office, at SEV and syndicom to the central office, at Hotel & Gastro Union to the head office in Lucerne. Members of SEV's retired members' sub-federation (PV) write to their section.
We deliberately do not copy addresses, because offices move. The address is on your last fee invoice or membership card, otherwise on your union's website.
What else you may need when leaving
The next letters, checked like this page.
We put the statutes side by side: 3 unions open the door once a year, 4 twice, syndicom every month. Only SEV mentions email expressly, only Hotel & Gastro Union counts receipt instead of the postmark, and 5 of the eight let you transfer to another SGB union without sitting out the full notice. The ConvivaPlus Union Exit Calculator applies these rules to any date.
Why do you want to leave your union?
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FAQ on leaving a trade union
The answers are based on the statutes of 8 unions and on the Swiss Civil Code.
People also ask
Related questions from our magazine
Notice depends on how long you have worked there (CO Art. 335c), and it must reach the employer before the period starts. Templates for job, flat and insurance.
By registered letter to the competent region or section, postmarked by 30 June. With the Unia exit calculator and three templates.
Probation, termination by mutual consent, dropping out: the rules for apprentices and companies.
All information without guarantee. Found an error? → support@conviva-plus.ch
The same six months' notice: resign on 1 July and you are out of syndicom after 7 months, out of Unia and Syna after 18.
People who leave their union often change jobs too
Letters and rights around work and resigning
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