Two months are left in 2026. If your Helper still has unused holiday days, plan them now. Your household is the employer: you set the dates, keep the record of what was taken and check that the December payslip matches it.
The law is the Swiss Code of Obligations; your canton's standard employment contract and your own contract can grant more.
How much holiday your Helper earns in 2026
Swiss law gives every employee at least four weeks of paid holiday per year of service, and five weeks until their twentieth birthday (Art. 329a CO). There is no lower limit for small jobs: three hours a week counts. For an incomplete year of service the entitlement is pro rata (Art. 329a para. 3 CO). The law counts the year from the start date of the employment; if your contract counts holiday by calendar year instead, as many do, a Helper who started during 2026 earns the 2026 share pro rata.
Your canton's standard employment contract or your written contract may grant more weeks. Neither can go below the legal minimum.
Public holidays come on top. A paid public holiday that falls within the holiday is not counted as a holiday day, which matters when your Helper is off over Christmas and New Year.
With an hourly wage, the holiday is still time off. Our guide to holiday pay on an hourly wage shows how the holiday share is worked out and written down.
The household sets the dates, with the two week rule
You set the timing of the holiday, after hearing your Helper's wishes and as far as the household allows (Art. 329c CO). Holidays are taken as time off during the employment, and at least two consecutive weeks are taken in one piece; the rest can be split.
Announce the dates in good time, so that both sides can plan. SECO guidance says as a rule at least three months ahead, and dates once fixed move only in an emergency. If you would like your Helper to take days over Christmas, discuss them now, record the agreement in writing and do not impose Christmas leave at the last minute.
Your own absence does not automatically turn agreed workdays into your Helper's holiday. If you cancel a visit because you are away, the agreed wage generally remains due. The Christmas bonus guide sets out the festive dates, public holidays and leave for this year.
Paying out holiday instead of time off: only in narrow cases
During the employment, holiday may not be replaced by money (Art. 329d CO). Paying out the open days in December is therefore not a way to close the year while your Helper keeps working for you. The same article requires the full wage for the holiday period, which the courts read as: your Helper must not be worse off financially during holiday than if they had worked.
There is one narrow exception, and it concerns the holiday wage, not the time off. With an hourly wage, the holiday share may be paid with each wage only for genuinely irregular part time work. In ruling 4A_357/2022 the Federal Court held that for full time work for the same employer, fluctuating monthly hours no longer justify it. Where the exception applies, two things must be true at once:
- The holiday share is stated in the written employment contract, as an amount or a percentage.
- The holiday share appears separately on every payslip, again as an amount or a percentage.
Even then, the holiday days are still taken as time off. When the conditions are not met, the employee can claim the holiday wage again. The section on the mistake that makes employers pay twice explains why.
When holiday may be reduced after an absence
Art. 329b CO sets when an employer may reduce holiday because the employee was absent during the year. One rule is clear: you may not shorten your Helper's holidays for up to two months off work because of the pregnancy, nor for the maternity leave (Art. 329b para. 3 CO). The guide for a pregnant Helper covers the other rules for those months.
For an absence through illness or an accident without your Helper's fault, you may not reduce anything while the absences in the year of service total no more than one month (Art. 329b para. 2 CO); beyond that, read Art. 329b CO and your canton's standard employment contract before you change the balance, and write the reason in the holiday record. Holiday and sickness are not simply fewer worked hours: record them separately. Pay during the illness is its own question, set out in the sick pay guide.
What happens to unused days on 1 January
An untaken holiday entitlement does not disappear at the turn of the year. While the employment continues, the open days are still owed as time off and cannot be paid out instead (Art. 329d CO).
Agree dates for them early in 2027, in good time and after hearing your Helper's wishes, as for any other holiday. Write down how many days of 2026 are still open, so that the record for 2027 starts from the right figure.
Do not let open days pile up: the law expects holiday within the year of service it belongs to (Art. 329c para. 1 CO), and it is the employer who sets the dates who answers for a backlog (BGE 130 III 19). Open days are not lost at year end, but the entitlement does prescribe, at the earliest five years after the end of the year for which it was due (Art. 128 no. 3 CO, SECO).
When the employment ends with days left
When the employment ends, any holiday balance not taken is paid with the last wage. During the notice period you may still have open days taken as time off, announced in good time and only as far as your Helper's search for a new job allows; whatever is left on the last day is paid out, because the ban on paying holiday in money applies only during the employment (Art. 329d para. 2 CO, SECO).
If you are thinking of ending the employment, the guide to giving notice to your Helper shows the periods and the protected times. The final pay guide shows what your Helper checks on the last payslip, holiday included.
A year end holiday check for your household
- Write down, for 2026, the days your Helper is entitled to, the days taken and the days still open.
- Record holiday separately from sickness, accidents and other absences.
- Agree dates for any open days in writing, in good time, with two consecutive weeks in one piece if they have not been taken this year.
- Check the December payslip. If you use the hourly exception, the holiday share is its own line on the payslip.
- Keep the holiday record with the contract and the payslips, and declare the full 2026 payroll to the compensation office by 30 January 2027.
Starting with Helpore during the year? Your wage and holiday records remain part of the same employment year. Have the holiday days taken so far this year ready.
Helpore Admin Light
Helpore prepares the monthly calculation and the payslip and provides the hour and holiday records and the yearly summary. You report the holiday days, check, file and pay. Your household stays the employer. Explore Admin Light
Helpore Admin
Holiday tracking can be part of the agreed administration that Helpore carries out under your signed authority. You report the days and review. Your household stays the employer and continues to decide the holiday dates. Explore Admin
Your Helper pays no Helpore fee.
Frequently asked questions
How much holiday is my Helper entitled to in 2026?
At least four weeks of paid holiday per year of service, and five weeks until their twentieth birthday (Art. 329a CO). There is no lower limit for small jobs. For an incomplete year of service the entitlement is pro rata. Your canton's standard employment contract or your own contract may grant more.
Who decides when my Helper takes holiday?
You do, as the employer, after hearing your Helper's wishes and as far as the household allows (Art. 329c CO). At least two consecutive weeks are taken in one piece. Announce the dates in good time and record the agreement in writing.
Can I pay my Helper for the holiday days still open in December?
Not while the employment continues: holiday may not be replaced by money during the employment (Art. 329d CO). With an hourly wage, paying the holiday share with each wage is a narrow exception for genuinely irregular part time work, stated in the written contract and on every payslip. The holiday days are still taken as time off.
Can I reduce my Helper's holiday after an illness or a pregnancy?
Not for up to two months off work because of the pregnancy, and not for the maternity leave (Art. 329b para. 3 CO). For an absence through illness or an accident without your Helper's fault, you may not reduce anything while the absences in the year of service total no more than one month (Art. 329b para. 2 CO); beyond that, read Art. 329b CO and your canton's standard employment contract before you change the balance, and record the absence separately from holiday.
What happens to holiday days still open on 1 January 2027?
They do not disappear at year end. While the employment continues, they are still owed as time off and cannot be paid out instead. Agree dates for them early in the new year. The entitlement prescribes at the earliest five years after the end of the year for which it was due (Art. 128 no. 3 CO).
What happens to open holiday days when the employment ends?
Any holiday balance not taken is paid with the last wage. During the notice period you may still have open days taken as time off, in good time and as far as your Helper's search for a new job allows. What is left on the last day is paid out.
Sources and further information
Official sources: Swiss Code of Obligations, Art. 128, 329a, 329b, 329c and 329d, Federal Court, ruling 4A_357/2022 of 30 January 2023 and SECO on holiday.
The glossary entry on holiday pay sums up the rules. This guide is general information and not legal advice.
Current on 29 October 2026. Product scope and conditions: Admin Light, Admin, pricing and terms.