Hiring help at home in Switzerland is common and entirely legal — but paying cash without declaring it is not. As soon as you pay someone who works in your private household, you take on employer duties toward the Swiss social-insurance system, and household wages must be reported from the very first franc. The good news: the framework is well defined, and for typical part-time help there is a simplified route. Below is the full picture, followed by what changes canton by canton and service by service.
Are you a household employer?
If you decide what work is done, when and how, and you pay the person directly, you are almost certainly the employer — not a customer buying a service. This is true even for a few hours of cleaning a week. Using an agency that employs the worker is different; this guide is about directly engaging someone in your home, which is what most cleaners, nannies and carers in Switzerland are.
Step 1 — Register with your cantonal compensation office
Household employers register the employment with the AHV compensation office (Ausgleichskasse / caisse de compensation) of their canton of residence, and contributions are due from the very first franc of household wages — there is no lower limit. The exact office and any registration deadline are set at cantonal level, so confirm them with the office responsible for where you live (or let Helpore handle the registration).
Step 3 — Insure against accidents (UVG)
Every employee, including household staff, must be covered by accident insurance under the UVG. Occupational-accident cover applies to all staff, and non-occupational-accident cover is additionally required for anyone working 8 hours or more per week for the same employer. This cover is a mandatory part of compliant household employment.
Step 4 — Check occupational pension (BVG) eligibility
Second-pillar occupational pension (BVG) becomes mandatory once the annual wage from one employer exceeds the entry threshold of CHF 22,680. Most part-time household roles stay below it, so no BVG applies. Above the threshold, contributions are calculated on the 'coordinated' salary — gross minus the coordination deduction of CHF 26,460, subject to a minimum coordinated salary of CHF 3,780 and a maximum of CHF 64,260. Retirement-credit rates rise with the employee's age, and the employer pays at least half.
Step 5 — Withholding tax (Quellensteuer), where it applies
If your employee is taxed at source — typically foreign nationals resident in Switzerland without a settlement (C) permit, and certain non-residents — the employer deducts withholding tax from the wage and settles it with the cantonal tax authority. Swiss citizens and C-permit holders are taxed in the ordinary procedure instead. Tariffs are set per canton, so there is no single national rate; under the simplified settlement procedure the tax is discharged at a flat 5% (below).
The simplified settlement procedure (a shortcut for small wages)
For small wage bills, the simplified settlement procedure (vereinfachtes Abrechnungsverfahren) lets a household employer settle social contributions and tax once a year with the compensation office, with income tax discharged at a flat 5% of gross. It is available when each employee earns no more than CHF 22,680 a year and the employer's total household payroll is no more than CHF 60,480 a year. The employee receives a certificate for their tax return and the income is not taxed again in the ordinary procedure — which is exactly why it suits occasional household help.
Step 6 — Proper pay, holiday pay and a wage statement
Household staff are entitled to proper pay, paid holiday and a written wage statement. For part-time staff, holiday pay is commonly added as an uplift on the hourly wage — 8.33% for four weeks of holiday, or 10.64% for five weeks (employees under 20). At year-end the employer issues an official wage statement (Lohnausweis, ESTV Form 11), which is mandatory for every employment regardless of amount or duration. Helpore enforces the applicable wage floor on every booking and generates the Lohnausweis.
What a household employer actually pays — an example
Take a cleaner in Zurich at CHF 30 an hour, 20 hours a month: CHF 600 gross a month, or CHF 7,200 a year. On top of the gross wage the employer adds the first-pillar contributions of 5.3% (AHV/IV/EO) and 1.1% (ALV), plus the canton-set family-allowance contribution and the accident-insurance premium — together roughly 8–10% of gross. Because CHF 7,200 is below the BVG entry threshold of CHF 22,680 there are no occupational-pension contributions, and because it is below CHF 22,680 per employee the simplified settlement procedure with its flat 5% tax is available. Exact totals depend on your canton (the family-allowance rate) and your accident insurer, so treat those two lines as approximate.
The compliance checklist at a glance
- 1
Register the employment
Sign up the household employment with your cantonal compensation office — wages count from the first franc.
- 2
Settle social contributions
Withhold the employee share and pay AHV/IV/EO (5.3% each), ALV (1.1% each) and the family-allowance contribution.
- 3
Arrange accident cover
Take out UVG accident insurance for the worker.
- 4
Check BVG and Quellensteuer
Confirm whether occupational pension (above CHF 22,680/yr) and withholding tax apply.
- 5
Pay correctly and document it
Pay at or above the applicable floor, add holiday pay and issue the year-end Lohnausweis.
Guides by canton
Minimum wages, withholding-tax handling and family-allowance rates differ by canton. Pick yours:
Guides by type of help
The same framework applies to every role, with a few service-specific points:
Frequently asked questions
Do I really have to register a cleaner who only comes a few hours a week?
Yes. Household wages must be declared to the AHV from the very first franc — there is no lower limit. The simplified settlement procedure makes small, regular arrangements easy: it is available when the employee earns up to CHF 22,680 a year and your total household payroll is up to CHF 60,480 a year.
What happens if I pay cash and don't declare it?
Undeclared employment leaves the worker without AHV credits and accident cover and exposes you, the employer, to back-payments, interest and penalties. Declaring through the compensation office (or letting Helpore handle it) is the only compliant route.
Who pays the social contributions — me or the worker?
Both. Employer and employee each pay 5.3% for AHV/IV/EO and 1.1% for ALV; you withhold the employee's share from the wage and pay the combined amount to the compensation office. The employer additionally pays the canton-set family-allowance contribution.
Does Helpore do all of this for me?
Helpore is built around Swiss household-employment administration — registration support, payroll allocation, insurance and the required documents, including the year-end Lohnausweis — so the steps above are taken care of as part of a booking or a managed relationship.
Let Helpore handle the admin
Helpore registers the employment, allocates payroll, arranges insurance and produces the documents — so the compliance steps below are taken care of for you.
Step 2 — Pay social-insurance contributions
On the gross wage, employer and employee each pay first-pillar contributions — old-age and survivors' insurance, disability insurance and income compensation (AHV/IV/EO) at 5.3% each, 10.6% combined — plus unemployment insurance (ALV) at 1.1% each, 2.2% combined, on wages up to CHF 148,200 a year. The employer also pays a family-allowance contribution (FAK), which each canton sets itself and typically runs around 1–3%, plus a small administrative-cost contribution. The employer withholds the employee's share from the wage and pays the combined amount to the compensation office. Two exemptions exist: wages up to CHF 750 a year for employees under 25 are exempt unless the employee asks otherwise, and retired employees have an AHV allowance of CHF 1,400 a month (CHF 16,800 a year).