The social welfare foundation of ProLitteris provides you with financial support in certain life situations if you have cooperative membership.

It provides two key benefits:

• Retirement pensions
• Emergency aid

The retirement pension is based on fixed rules in accordance with the regulations of the social welfare foundation.

Emergency aid is assessed on an individual basis. Depending on your financial situation, the foundation board decides whether support is possible and to what extent.

Only members of the cooperative can receive benefits from the social welfare foundation of ProLitteris.

For you, this means:

• You must be an author and at the same time a cooperative member of ProLitteris. A management agreement is not sufficient.
• After reaching retirement age, you can receive an old-age pension, provided that you can prove a low income.
• You can submit an application for financial support at any time.

For emergency aid, the foundation reviews your application and decides on the support based on your personal financial situation.

There is no right to emergency aid.

The foundation board decides on a case-by-case basis whether you receive support. The decision is based on your financial situation.

Please use the form for an application. Contact our Team Social.

You can submit an application to the social welfare foundation by e-mail.

For you, this means:

• You address your application to the social welfare foundation
• on request, you receive a form from ProLitteris

The foundation board reviews applications at its meetings in the following months:

• April
• June
• September
• December

In urgent cases, immediate assistance can also be decided outside these dates.

You can submit an application for emergency aid if you are a member of ProLitteris and are in a serious financial emergency.

For you, this means:

• You must be a cooperative member of ProLitteris
• Your financial situation must make support necessary

Emergency aid is usually granted as a one-time contribution. It serves to cover specific costs and can amount to up to several thousand Swiss francs.

For an emergency aid application, you must present your financial situation transparently using the relevant form.

This includes in particular:

• Your current financial hardship, for example with invoices or estimates
• the reason for the situation, that is, cause and context
• the specific impact on your financial situation today and in the near future

In addition, you provide information about your economic circumstances:

• tax assessment
• income and assets
• budget and ongoing obligations
• special circumstances such as health, age, or debts

The social welfare foundation can, if necessary, consult specialists to assess your situation more accurately.

Important for you: Emergency aid serves personal support and not the promotion of works, projects, or events.

You have a right to an old-age pension from the social welfare foundation if you meet several conditions.

The following applies to you:

• You have reached the AHV reference age
• You have been a member of the cooperative of ProLitteris without interruption for at least ten years
• You became a member no later than at the age of 60

In addition, the following must apply:

• Your royalties from ProLitteris reach a defined minimum amount
• Your taxable income is below a defined upper limit

The supervisory board of the foundation sets the exact amounts. They are documented in the regulations of the social welfare foundation.

Whether you have a right to a retirement pension depends on two key factors:

• your taxable income
• the total amount of your royalties from ProLitteris over the entire membership

For you, this means: All royalties that you have received over the years are decisive, regardless of the sector, for example from Print, Online, Broadcast, Audio, Art or international distributions.

You can ask ProLitteris (Team Social) about the current status of these royalties.

Important: You do not have to calculate the entitlement yourself or submit an active application. ProLitteris automatically checks the requirements and contacts you if a retirement pension is possible.

The status as of 31.12 before the pension year is decisive in each case.

The retirement pension is calculated annually by ProLitteris and only comes into existence with this calculation.

Two factors are decisive for you:

• the total sum of your royalties from ProLitteris during your entire membership
• your taxable income

The relevant status is always as of 31. December before the pension year.

The following applies as proof of your taxable income:

• you must submit it on time, at the latest by 31. December
• you submit it by email or by post
• the basis is the final and binding tax assessment

ProLitteris generally informs you in good time if you are eligible for a retirement pension. However, it is your responsibility to comply with the deadline and the required form.

The exact conditions and details are laid down in the regulations of the social welfare foundation.

ProLitteris actively checks for you whether there is an entitlement to an old-age pension.

For this purpose, you usually receive a request from Team Social in October. This is sent:

• by email
• or, in exceptional cases, by letter

to the contact address stored in the profile.

For you, this means that ProLitteris initiates the clarification and informs you in good time when a possible entitlement is being reviewed.