I was laid off and have a few months of garden leave. To avoid any penalties, I started looking for jobs right away and will continue to do so. However, are there any pros and cons in registering with RAV before my first day of unemployment? I was for instance thinking of travelling during my garden leave, but would being registered with RAV be a blocking factor in that case, even though I’m technically still employed during that time? Thank you!
Nah, unless you urgently need some offered CV training or career advise you’re good.
I would register some weeks before garden leave ends (if you haven’t found anything in between), and make sure to document applications sent before that. Does your reference say anything on garden leave? Or reason for termination?
Depending on your salary, you’d have some blocking period, anyway. From second hand experience, if you show good faith (apply for suitable jobs, show up for meetings) there’d no further sanctions in case you are unlucky.
Anyway enjoy and good luck 
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I would check with RAV. They take some time processing your file and sometimes, registering as soon as you know you’ll be laid off is mandatory. It can be a mess, though: I’ve been fired last year, official documents in Valais/Wallis say that it’s mandatory to register at the earliest (when you’ve received your lay off letter) though RAV wouldn’t have me and insisted that I started the registration process only after I had actually ended my time serving in my former position.
Getting their refusal in written in order to cover my bases was way more of a hassle than it needed to be.
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Ok, so this might differ on your area. No issue whatsoever from an experience in ZH. Registration 3-4 weeks before the end of a 6-month leave.
Once you register, you might have to show up for meetings or trainings. This can be a pro, plus some premium access to job portals, but the con is it doesn’t go together with traveling.
Depends on you whether that kind of support RAV can offer is a great help or a burden.
Oh, and you are morally obliged to get a new job asap to avoid cost for your current employer. 
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The garden leave doesnt change anything in regards to your duties. It is expected from you to look for a new job, once you have been notified about the contract termination.
Having not searched for a new job will lead to Einstelltage (days without payments).
I tried to sign up with RAV Zurich during my garden leave. They told me it’s too early, that they will cancel my notification and that I should report back again near the end of my garden leave, if I still don’t have a job by then. So I am applying for the required 10-12 jobs per month until then.
I have also travelled during the garden leave and as long as RAV is not involved, it is easier to do the things the way you want. I learnt that RAV will grant a week of “holidays” for every 60 workdays of job hunting.
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Sorry about your lay-off.
Unpopular opinion:
You should get a new job as soon as possible (or bear the cost of not having one all by yourself).
As a contributor to the unemployment insurance I feel like you exploring the system for your maximum benefit is in essence going to affect the insurance rate I will pay going forward. Marginally, of course, but margins add up.
Insurance is not a “I pay in, I want to be paid out equally (or more)” scheme. It just does not work that way, especially if there’s insurance payers who pay in lots less than they expect to get out of the system.
It’s insurance: I pay in a relatively small amount as insurance of getting paid a large amount for an event that hopefully never happens.
Maybe I misunderstood your specific situation.
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My assumption is that many people sent on several months of garden leave are capable of finding a new job within due time, or at least know the steps how to get there.
Therefore, less support or supervision is required and the RAV employees can focus their time and resources on other candidates.
Edit, in response to @Your_Full_Name posted at the same time: I don’t support to take advantage of the insurance. In my limited experience, if you get laid-off with garden leave, there’s some personal history or unfortunate situation behind it. And that’s a good moment to take some time off and reflect and relax. Paid by the firing company, as per mutually agreed contract, not the insurance.
Nevertheless, it’s reasonable to have the insurance as backup in case things don’t work out. Or that’s at least how I interpreted the question 
I’m pretty sure RAV does a reasonable job ensuring that people don’t abuse the system
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Appreciate your honesty and courage to speak your mind. I used to think the same.
Approaching 60 is showing me another side of the reality for people looking for employment. I wish there were jobs for people until 80 but many companies have a bias against older people. So I am glad the unemployment insurance is there for 2 years to pick up where the system is not (yet) aligned with demographics.
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I guess we are pretty much on the same page, but interpreted the original question differently.
For me, maybe based on a personal bubble, it sounded like “my employer continues to pay me for some months, but doesn’t want to see me again. I look for a new job, am reasonably confident to find one, can I travel in the meantime to clear my head?” Hell yes. 
For most other cases, there are at least some safety nets in place, including ALV, and I fully appreciate those
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Thank you for your responses.
I’m not trying to “abuse” the system. I, like others, have contributed to it and don’t consider it a “right” but an insurance indeed. Getting laid off is stressful enough as it is.
Within an hour of being notified, I was already job hunting. So finding a job is my goal, irrespective of RAV. The question was merely about possible advantages and inconveniences in registering early. Travelling while on garden leave and still applying to jobs isn’t incompatible – it all depends on duration of travel, possibility to conduct interviews remotely (which would be the case for 50% of my applications), etc. Travelling is however no longer possible afterwards, apart from agreed-upon leave with RAV.
Thanks again for your thoughts.
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There is no point registering early, you will just get an unnecessary early meeting with the RAV counselor that can be avoided, plus it takes time to fill in all the necessary paper work anyway. Its best to register as late as possible I believe its the 1st day of unemployment and then you will get assigned a RAV person within 2 weeks.
Just show that you have been applying to 8-10 jobs a month since you were given notice and that should be fine. Good luck
Apologies if I was perhaps entertaining the thought you were gaming the system. Clearly, you are not.
It wasn’t – to me – very clear after your initial description of things as they are playing out.
Good luck!
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From what I understand it can be slightly beneficial to start the process a few weeks before to get things setup early.
(It doesn’t change the amount paid but might avoid some delays)
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theres no benefit whatsoever to register before, it is not mandatory. Check with rav office you are part of what is the latest day to register (in zug it is day 1), they have all the information anyway. Enjoy the garden leave
Question about delays due to waiting periods (0 to 20 days) and unpaid leave approved by RAV: do those delays affect the total number of days for which one can receive unemployment benefits? I would assume that it’s indeed a “delay” in the first case (the waiting period) but I’m not sure, and certainly unsure about (approved) unpaid leave, would you know?
Since I’m on the topic, what happens in case of penalties e.g. one hasn’t sent enough applications and X days of penalty are imposed: do they also come in deduction of the number of remaining days for which one can receive benefits, or do they simply delay them and the number of (remaining) days stays the same?
Thank you once again!