A-Post Plus in social security law

A Mail Plus with pitfalls

We already addressed the problem with the delivery of A Mail Plus letters that trigger the deadline on Saturday in our article from September 2, 2021.

When registered mail is delivered, the time limit is generally triggered by collection from the post office box. If a consignment is not collected, it is deemed to have been delivered on the seventh day (so-called delivery fiction).

With A Mail Plus, however, the time of delivery already triggers the deadline. In the case of delivery on a Saturday, the deadline begins on the following day, i.e. on Sunday. If the mailbox is not emptied until the following Monday, this means that the deadline starts two days earlier (compared to registered mail).

As already reported, in our experience, certain insurance providers seem to have mail items with A Mail Plus in social insurance law delivered specifically on Saturdays in order to achieve a corresponding “shortening of the deadline”.

Current judgment of the Federal Supreme Court

In its ruling 8C_665/2022 of December 15, 2022, the Federal Supreme Court has now consolidated the practice on A Mail Plus in social insurance law. It states that in social security proceedings there are no statutory provisions on how the insurance institutions should serve their orders. Therefore, the dispatch of an objection decision using the “A Mail Plus” dispatch method is not objectionable. Referring to earlier rulings, it states that, according to case law, the delivery of the item to the addressee’s post box is deemed to trigger the deadline, even if this took place on a Saturday. The fact that the addressee concerned does not collect the item from the post box until the following Monday is irrelevant. It would be the recipient’s responsibility to empty the mailbox themselves on a Saturday.

Best practice for lawyers regarding mailings with A Mail Plus

The Federal Supreme Court’s requirement for lawyers to empty their mailboxes on a Saturday seems impractical and somewhat casual to us. As a result, the decision is nevertheless tenable. Lawyers can tackle the problem without having to sacrifice part of their weekend.

In our opinion, best practice is to check all consignments with A Mail Plus for the delivery date using the Track & Trace number asstandard especially as late deliveries can also be expected during the week. Setting up such a process in the law firm does not require a great deal of effort and reliably prevents incorrect deadline calculations.