Household cleaning · Switzerland 2026
20 hours a week. CHF 4’409.60 a year apart.
At 20 hours a week, the legal floor in Geneva pays the worker CHF 4’409.60 more annual gross than the floor in Vaud. It also requires occupational pension enrolment. The model for Vaud does not.
Helpore AG
What the atlas shows
At 20 hours a week, Geneva produces CHF 25’573.60 annual gross and compulsory enrolment. Vaud produces CHF 21’164.00 and no compulsory enrolment in this model.
For the same household job and the same weekly hours, the workplace can change both legal gross pay and whether compulsory occupational pension enrolment begins. The model compares the applicable pay floor with the federal pension entry threshold.
For this worker without a relevant qualification, 24 cantons use the federal pay floor. Geneva, Neuchâtel and Lucerne City apply higher floors. At 20 hours a week, only Geneva and Lucerne City cross the compulsory pension threshold.
This is a statutory floor model for one permanent job with one household employer. It is not an estimate of a worker’s actual pay or pension plan.
Explore
When does pension cover become compulsory?
The pension threshold is federal. The pay floor depends on where the work is done. Choose a workplace to see when a legal floor job crosses the line.
Which qualification applies?
Choose no relevant qualification with less than 4 years of professional domestic work experience; at least 4 years of experience, or a relevant AFP or EBA, or another completed vocational qualification of at least 2 years that suits domestic work; or a relevant CFC or EFZ or another vocational qualification of at least 3 years that suits the work.
Modeled at the legal floor
20 hours a week
With one household employer
Geneva
CHF 24.59 an hour
Compulsory occupational pension enrolment
CHF 567.00 statutory retirement saving credit this year
First qualifying whole hour schedule: 18 h.
Exact hour boundary
Geneva: CHF 22’680.00 ÷ (CHF 24.59 × 52) hours, approximately 17.74 h. Annual pay must be strictly above CHF 22’680.00.
Vaud
CHF 20.35 an hour
No compulsory occupational pension enrolment
AHV and already accrued pension capital remain. An above minimum or voluntary plan may cover the job.
First qualifying whole hour schedule: 22 h.
Exact hour boundary
Vaud: CHF 22’680.00 ÷ (CHF 20.35 × 52) hours, approximately 21.43 h. Annual pay must be strictly above CHF 22’680.00.
The Geneva floor yields CHF 4’409.60 more annual gross than the Vaud floor.
Compulsory pension enrolment applies in Geneva. The Vaud job does not require it.
Compulsory enrolment also includes statutory death and disability cover, subject to the applicable conditions.
The retirement credit is capital saved under the statutory minimum model. It is not take home pay, a pension payout or the worker’s sole contribution.
Illustrative statutory minimum model, not an estimate of an individual worker’s actual wage or pension plan.
The Geneva floor yields CHF 4’409.60 more annual gross than the Vaud floor. Compulsory pension enrolment applies in Geneva. The Vaud job does not require it.
Workloads below 50% · Observed in 2024
Low workloads are nearly 4 times as common.
In 2024, 59% of people in private household activities worked below a 50% workload. Across the whole economy, the share was 15%.
Sector context78'879 people were employed in private household activities in 2024.
74%of people employed in private household activities in 2024 were women
45%of people employed in private household activities in 2024 were foreign nationals
The measured workforce figures and the modeled legal outcomes answer different questions. They must not be combined into an affected person count.
All canton data and the city exception
The downloadable data covers 26 cantons, the Lucerne City exception and 26'244 calculated scenarios with the complete source ledger.
| Workplace | No qualification, under 4 years | 4 or more years or AFP | CFC | Approximate unqualified hour boundary | First whole hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aargau | CHF 20.35 | CHF 22.30 | CHF 24.55 | 21.43 h | 22 h |
| Appenzell Innerrhoden | CHF 20.35 | CHF 22.30 | CHF 24.55 | 21.43 h | 22 h |
| Appenzell Ausserrhoden | CHF 20.35 | CHF 22.30 | CHF 24.55 | 21.43 h | 22 h |
| Bern | CHF 20.35 | CHF 22.30 | CHF 24.55 | 21.43 h | 22 h |
| Basel Landschaft | CHF 20.35 | CHF 22.30 | CHF 24.55 | 21.43 h | 22 h |
| Basel Stadt | CHF 20.35 | CHF 22.30 | CHF 24.55 | 21.43 h | 22 h |
| Fribourg | CHF 20.35 | CHF 22.30 | CHF 24.55 | 21.43 h | 22 h |
| Geneva | CHF 24.59 | CHF 24.85 | CHF 25.11 | 17.74 h | 18 h |
| Glarus | CHF 20.35 | CHF 22.30 | CHF 24.55 | 21.43 h | 22 h |
| Graubünden | CHF 20.35 | CHF 22.30 | CHF 24.55 | 21.43 h | 22 h |
| Jura | CHF 20.35 | CHF 22.30 | CHF 24.55 | 21.43 h | 22 h |
| Lucerne, outside the city | CHF 20.35 | CHF 22.30 | CHF 24.55 | 21.43 h | 22 h |
| Lucerne Citymunicipal exception | CHF 22.75 | CHF 22.75 | CHF 24.55 | 19.17 h | 20 h |
| Neuchâtel | CHF 21.35 | CHF 22.30 | CHF 24.55 | 20.43 h | 21 h |
| Nidwalden | CHF 20.35 | CHF 22.30 | CHF 24.55 | 21.43 h | 22 h |
| Obwalden | CHF 20.35 | CHF 22.30 | CHF 24.55 | 21.43 h | 22 h |
| St. Gallen | CHF 20.35 | CHF 22.30 | CHF 24.55 | 21.43 h | 22 h |
| Schaffhausen | CHF 20.35 | CHF 22.30 | CHF 24.55 | 21.43 h | 22 h |
| Solothurn | CHF 20.35 | CHF 22.30 | CHF 24.55 | 21.43 h | 22 h |
| Schwyz | CHF 20.35 | CHF 22.30 | CHF 24.55 | 21.43 h | 22 h |
| Thurgau | CHF 20.35 | CHF 22.30 | CHF 24.55 | 21.43 h | 22 h |
| Ticino | CHF 20.35 | CHF 22.30 | CHF 24.55 | 21.43 h | 22 h |
| Uri | CHF 20.35 | CHF 22.30 | CHF 24.55 | 21.43 h | 22 h |
| Vaud | CHF 20.35 | CHF 22.30 | CHF 24.55 | 21.43 h | 22 h |
| Valais | CHF 20.35 | CHF 22.30 | CHF 24.55 | 21.43 h | 22 h |
| Zug | CHF 20.35 | CHF 22.30 | CHF 24.55 | 21.43 h | 22 h |
| Zurich | CHF 20.35 | CHF 22.30 | CHF 24.55 | 21.43 h | 22 h |
Modeled legal floor results. Each row uses the same scope and central calculation.
Data and methodology
Methodology and sources
Annual gross pay
Applicable hourly floor × weekly hours × 52. Monthly salary is the annual amount divided across 12 payments.
Compulsory BVG
Annual gross must be strictly above CHF 22’680.00 in 2026. The exact boundary and the first qualifying whole hour schedule are shown separately.
Retirement credit
For compulsory enrolment, subtract CHF 26’460.00 from annual gross capped at CHF 90’720.00. If the result is below CHF 3’780.00, use CHF 3’780.00. The model applies the statutory saving rate for the selected age band and full saving years before reference age. This is retirement capital saved, not take home pay or a pension payout.
The calculator models one adult doing cleaning and ordinary housework in permanent private household employment with one employer, 52 paid weeks, 12 salary payments, paid leave and no board or lodging. Workplace, not residence, selects the pay floor.
The model excludes work that is predominantly childcare, au pairs, family arrangements excluded by the applicable instrument, agricultural households, live in care, apprenticeships, internships and work governed by another instrument. Death and disability benefits are subject to statutory conditions.
The federal domestic work pay floor applies from an average of 5 hours a week with the same employer. Geneva has its own domestic work instrument. The City of Lucerne rule applies from the first franc when the city is the ordinary workplace.
Gross pay is the employee’s salary. Statutory employer contributions and other employer costs are additional. The household is the employer. Helpers never pay fees to Helpore.
Geneva
Geneva is outside the federal wage NAV because its own mandatory domestic work CTT applies. The CFC column shows the rate for a CFC in any field other than horticulture; a person with a CFC in horticulture is owed CHF 26.78 for any domestic work.
Neuchâtel
The cantonal domestic NAV requires the higher of the cantonal general minimum and the federal rate for the qualification.
Lucerne, outside the city
The federal NAV applies in the canton except where the higher City of Lucerne floor applies.
Lucerne has a city exception.
Voters retained the city minimum on 27 September 2026. CHF 22.75 applies to staff without the relevant qualification and to experienced staff when the ordinary workplace is in the city. The higher CHF 24.55 CFC floor remains. Select Lucerne City to compare it with the rest of the canton.
Basel Stadt
The CHF 22.20 cantonal minimum does not top up a binding NAV wage. The Basel Stadt domestic NAV points to the federal floors.
Jura
The CHF 21.40 general minimum allows the domestic work CTT to differ. The federal domestic work pay floors control this model.
Ticino
For the worker modeled here, the federal NAV rates are higher than the CHF 20.00 cantonal floor for NOGA 97. The cantonal floor applies to domestic categories outside the federal NAV, subject to cantonal law.
Zurich
The federal NAV remains applicable in Zurich and Winterthur. Their municipal minimum wage rules were not in force on 9 October 2026 and are not applied in this dataset.
| Age for pension savings | % |
|---|---|
| 25-34 | 7% |
| 35-44 | 10% |
| 45-54 | 15% |
| 55-64 | 18% |
Primary sources
Each pay rule, pension constant, measured figure and map boundary links to its published official source.
- Federal domestic work minimum wages
- Scope of the federal domestic work standard employment contract
- Basel Stadt: minimum wage questions and answers
- Basel Stadt: standard employment contract for household employees
- Geneva: applicable domestic work pay categories
- Jura: minimum wages and domestic work
- Neuchâtel: standard employment contract for domestic work
- Neuchâtel: minimum wage memorandum
- Ticino: guide to domestic work pay rules
- Lucerne City: minimum wage questions and answers
- Lucerne City: applicable minimum wage
- Zurich City: status of the municipal minimum wage
- Winterthur: status of the municipal minimum wage
- Federal Supreme Court: Zurich and Winterthur municipal minimum wages
- Federal occupational pension reference figures
- Lucerne City: vote retaining the municipal minimum wage
- Report on domestic work employment and pay rulesSECO · BFS
- Report on multiple employment and social insuranceBSV · BFS
- Canton boundaries: swisstopo official canton boundary dataset, 2026 edition.swisstopo
Data checked 9 October 2026
Downloads
Download the data and method
Use the files to check a result, compare workplaces or reproduce the calculation. Machine readable data uses English field names and source notes. The reader guide and graphic are available in this language.
All modeled scenarios
Every workplace, qualification, half hour schedule and saving age band in a reusable CSV file.
Download all-scenarios-2026.csvCSV · 4.3 MBDefault comparison
The 20 hour comparison for every workplace and qualification.
Download twenty-hour-comparison-2026.csvCSV · 13.5 KBPay rules and source ledger
Applicable rates, scope notes, status dates and official source links.
Download wage-rules-and-sources.jsonJSON · 23.3 KBMeasured evidence and sources
Published workforce context with definitions, denominators and limits on interpretation.
Download observed-evidence-and-sources.jsonJSON · 7.2 KBReproduce the calculation
A readable script that calculates pay, pension eligibility and the statutory retirement credit.
Download reproduce-calculation.jsJavaScript · 3.6 KBReader guide and method
Scenario scope, formulas, interpretation and source notes in English.
Download reader-guide-en.mdMarkdown · 3 KBEditorial graphic
A reusable graphic of the default comparison with its source and model status.
Download work-and-pension-2026-en.svgSVG · 110.4 KB
Machine readable data with English field names and source notes. English.
Questions the atlas answers
Does household work have the same legal pay floor everywhere in Switzerland?
No. The federal standard employment contract for domestic work supplies the floor in most cantons, from an average of 5 hours a week with the same household and for work that is not mainly childcare. Below that scope, the cantonal minimums of Basel Stadt (CHF 22.20) and Ticino (CHF 20.00) and the Jura standard contract for domestic work can apply; the other cantons set no statutory floor. Geneva uses its own mandatory standard employment contract for domestic work, Neuchâtel applies the higher relevant floor, and Lucerne City has an operative municipal exception.
Does the worker’s residence decide which pay floor applies?
No. The ordinary workplace decides which rule applies in this model.
When does occupational pension enrolment become compulsory?
In this model, annual gross pay with one household employer must be strictly above CHF 22’680.00. The contract and AHV conditions must also be met.
Why can the same weekly hours produce a different pension result?
The pension threshold is federal, while the applicable pay floor can vary by workplace. A higher hourly floor can push annual gross pay above the threshold sooner.
Does no compulsory enrolment mean no pension protection at all?
No. AHV and already accrued occupational pension capital remain. An above minimum plan or voluntary arrangement may also provide cover.
Is the retirement credit extra take home pay?
No. It is retirement capital saved under the statutory minimum model. It is not a pension payout and it is not only the worker’s contribution.
Who employs the worker in this model?
The private household is the employer. The annual gross shown is employee salary. Employer contributions and other employer costs are additional.