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Household guide

Your Helper is pregnant: pay, maternity leave and notice in Switzerland

Your Helper is pregnant. What the household pays, how the maternity allowance works, why notice is barred and which papers to prepare in Switzerland.

Helpore editorial team

Your Helper has told you she is expecting a child. Your household is her employer, so the law already says what you owe her: pay while the pregnancy keeps her from working, fourteen weeks of maternity leave paid through the maternity allowance, and protection against notice. This guide sets out each step and the papers you need.

What changes for my household right now?

Very little changes in the employment itself. Your Helper keeps her contract, her hours and her wage. Three things are worth doing in the first weeks:

  1. Thank her for telling you and agree how she will tell you about medical appointments and days she cannot work.
  2. Talk about tasks that may strain her, such as heavy lifting, ladders or strong cleaning products, and ask what her doctor advises. The Code of Obligations requires an employer to protect the health of the person it employs (Art. 328 CO).
  3. Find your contract, your canton's standard contract for household work and your insurance papers. The cantonal standard contracts for household work regulate working and rest time and the conditions for women employees, so your canton may add rules (SECO, Information on the NAV Hauswirtschaft).

Do I keep paying the wage during the pregnancy?

Yes, while she works. If the pregnancy keeps her from working, you pay the wage for a limited time in the same way as for an illness (Art. 324a para. 3 CO). This applies when the employment has lasted more than 3 months or was agreed for more than 3 months.

If your household has a daily sickness allowance policy, check whether and from when it pays. If there is no policy, the period you pay follows your contract, your canton's standard contract and the length of the employment. Our sick pay guide explains how that period is set.

How does maternity leave work?

After the birth, your Helper has a right to at least 14 weeks of maternity leave (Art. 329f CO). During that time the maternity allowance replaces the wage:

  • It pays 80 percent of her average earnings before the birth, up to CHF 220 a day, for 98 days from the day of the birth (Art. 16c, 16e and 16f EOG).
  • She qualifies if she was insured under AHV for the nine months before the birth and worked for at least five of them (Art. 16b EOG). Time insured in the EU, EFTA or the United Kingdom counts (AHV/IV leaflet 6.02).
  • If the newborn stays in hospital for at least two weeks straight after the birth, the allowance runs longer, by at most 56 days, provided she shows she had decided to return to work after the leave (Art. 16c para. 3 EOG).
  • The allowance ends early if she goes back to work during those 98 days, even part time or for one household only (Art. 16d EOG).

If the allowance covers at least four fifths of her wage, you owe no wage for those days. If it covers less, you pay the difference up to four fifths for as long as your duty to continue the wage lasts (Art. 324a and 324b CO). If she does not meet the conditions for the allowance, ask your compensation office or your canton's labour office what applies before you decide on pay.

In Geneva, a Helper who worked in the canton before the birth may receive additional cantonal benefits; the cantonal social insurance office (OCAS) informs about them (AHV/IV leaflet 6.02).

Who files the claim, and what does the household confirm?

Your Helper claims the allowance through you, her employer, with form 318.750 from ahv-iv.ch. You confirm three things for the compensation office: how long the employment has lasted, the wage the allowance is based on, and any wage you pay during the allowance (AHV/IV leaflet 6.02).

If you keep paying her a wage during the leave, in full or in part, the compensation office pays the allowance to your household. Otherwise it pays her directly. If she works for several households, ask the compensation office that receives the claim which household confirms what.

Can I give notice to my pregnant Helper?

Not after the probation period. Your household may not give notice during the pregnancy or in the 16 weeks after the birth. A notice given during that time is void. If you gave notice before the pregnancy began, the notice period stops during this time and runs on afterwards (Art. 336c CO). The protection applies to notice from the household. Your Helper can still resign under her notice period.

If you run the employment in Helpore Admin, write to Helpore Support before you change her hours or give notice: the notice screen does not know about a pregnancy.

What about holidays, family allowances and accident cover?

  • Holidays. You may not shorten her holidays for up to two months off work because of the pregnancy, nor for the maternity leave (Art. 329b para. 3 CO). See holiday pay on an hourly wage.
  • Family allowances. Once the child is born, your Helper may claim a child allowance through your household's family allowance fund. During maternity leave, the allowance continues for a limited time even without a wage (Art. 10 FamZV), and some cantons also pay a birth allowance. Our study of family allowances by canton lists the amounts, the cantons that pay a birth allowance and how long the allowance continues during maternity leave.
  • Accident cover. An employee who receives the maternity allowance stays insured against accidents during the leave and is in principle exempt from the premium (AHV/IV leaflet 6.02). Tell your accident insurer about the leave. See accident insurance for your cleaner.

For Helpers: what should I do?

  1. Tell each household you work for once you are ready, and agree how you will report appointments.
  2. Keep your contract, payslips and medical certificates. A certificate shows that you cannot work and for how long; it does not need a diagnosis.
  3. Before the birth, ask each household for the papers for form 318.750, and ask the compensation office how to file if you work for several households.
  4. Check your payslips: if the allowance is paid to the household, your payslip should show it.

When she comes back

After the leave, your Helper returns to her contract, her hours and her wage. If she would like fewer hours, agree the change in writing. A new contract or an amendment is the right place for it; our employment contract guide shows what to write down.

“A pregnancy is not a reason to end an employment. The sooner a household knows what the law asks of it, the calmer the months ahead are for its Helper and for the family.”

Gilberto de la Fuente, Helpore

Frequently asked questions

Do I keep paying my Helper's wage when the pregnancy keeps her from working?

Yes, for a limited time, as for an illness (Art. 324a para. 3 CO).

Who pays during maternity leave?

The maternity allowance, at 80 percent of earnings up to CHF 220 a day for 98 days, if she qualifies (EOG).

Can I give notice to a pregnant Helper?

Not after probation, during the pregnancy and the 16 weeks after the birth (Art. 336c CO).

Can I shorten her holidays?

Not for up to two months off because of the pregnancy, and not for the maternity leave (Art. 329b CO).

Official sources

  1. Swiss Code of Obligations, Art. 324a, 324b, 328, 329b, 329f and 336c, consolidated version of 1 October 2026 (read 20 Oct 2026)
  2. Federal Act on Income Compensation (EOG), Art. 16b to 16f, version of 1 June 2026 (read 20 Oct 2026)
  3. AHV/IV leaflet 6.02, Maternity allowance, status 1 January 2025 (read 20 Oct 2026)
  4. Family Allowances Ordinance (FamZV), Art. 10, version of 1 January 2025 (read 20 Oct 2026)
  5. SECO, Information on the NAV Hauswirtschaft, status 1 January 2026 (read 20 Oct 2026)
  6. SECO, frequently asked questions on termination