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Between two households

Changing employer: what the old and the new household do

The old household keeps to the notice period, gives a last payslip and reports the final wages.

What happens when a Helper changes household?

The old household keeps to the notice period, gives a last payslip and reports the final wages to its compensation office and accident insurer.For the new household it is a new employment: a new contract, accident cover from the first day, and registration with its canton's compensation office.Before the first day, the new household must check that the Helper may work in Switzerland. With a C permit, no one files anything. The same holds for a B permit issued for work, to a family member or to an EU or EFTA citizen. An EU or EFTA citizen with a G permit always needs a notice before the first day. In Geneva, the request is filed 14 days before the new job starts. An EU or EFTA citizen with an L permit changes employer without an authorization. With an L permit of another nationality, the change needs an authorization before the first day. Other permits may need a notice or an authorization.

Same household and same Helper, new payroll service? Switching payroll

Terms on this page

  • Compensation office: the office of your canton where your household registers as an employer and declares the wages for the social insurances. More on the compensation office
  • Simplified procedure: a route with a wage limit. You declare the wages once a year, and the compensation office also collects a flat withholding tax. More on the simplified procedure
  • Ordinary procedure: the other route. You settle with the compensation office during the year and issue a salary certificate.
  • Withholding tax: income tax your household deducts from the wage and passes on for your Helper. More on withholding tax
  • Salary certificate: the official statement of a year's wages, issued by an employer in the ordinary procedure. More on the salary certificate
  • EU or EFTA citizen: a national of an EU country, or of Iceland, Liechtenstein or Norway.

When your Helper leaves your household

Your household stays the employer until the last day.

  1. Notice

    If your Helper resigns, or you give notice, the notice period in your contract or your canton's standard contract applies. After the probation period, there are times when your household may not give notice. One is while your Helper cannot work because of an illness or accident that is not their fault; this protection lasts longer the more years they have worked for you. Others are pregnancy, the weeks after the birth, and some leaves set by law. Notice given in such a time is void. If you gave notice before it began, the notice period stops and goes on afterwards. These limits do not apply when your Helper resigns.

  2. The last payslip

    Everything you owe your Helper is due on the last day. Give a written payslip, as for every wage payment. Pay out the holiday your Helper has not taken and has not yet been paid for.

  3. Withholding tax

    Under the simplified procedure there is nothing to report to the tax office: the flat tax goes through the compensation office. Under the ordinary procedure, if you deduct withholding tax from your Helper's wage, enter their last day on your withholding tax statement. Your canton's tax office sets the form and the timing.

    If your Helper lives in France and the employment ends during the year, issue them a tax certificate when they ask.

  4. The permit

    For some permits your household reports the end of the employment to the canton. They are named in the list under the permit table.

  5. Accident insurance

    Send your insurer the final wages. Your Helper's cover runs on for 31 days after the last day they have a right to at least half the wage. Tell your Helper that they can extend it with your insurer for up to 6 months; they agree it before the cover ends. Before the last day, tell them in writing that they must inform their health insurer that your accident cover ends. If you do not, the health insurer can claim its accident premium, with interest, from your household. If no one else works for you, read your policy terms before you end the policy.

  6. Reporting the end to the compensation office

    Federal law sets no separate deadline to report the end to the compensation office. Your Helper's final wages go in your wage declaration, due within 30 days after the end of the settlement period, which is the calendar year unless your office lets you settle actual wages for each payment period. Under the simplified procedure, that is your yearly declaration, due by 30 January. Under the ordinary procedure, also tell the office during the year if your wage total changes a lot, as it may when your Helper leaves. In both, ask your canton's office how it wants the end reported.

  7. The salary certificate

    Under the ordinary procedure, issue a salary certificate for the months your Helper worked for you, with the exact start and end dates. Issue it once a year, or at once if your Helper moves away. A Helper with two employers in one year gets two certificates.

    In these cantons you also send a copy to the tax office: Basel-Stadt, Bern, Fribourg, Jura, Neuchâtel, Solothurn, Vaud and Valais.

    Under the simplified procedure, you issue no salary certificate. The compensation office gives your Helper a certificate of the tax paid.

  8. A reference letter

    Your Helper can ask for a reference letter at any time.

Taking on a Helper from another household

From the first day, your household is the employer, even if your Helper worked for another household the day before. It is a new employment.

  1. The contract

    Agree the tasks, hours, wage, holidays and notice. Helpore's contract template is optional. A new probation period starts. Two standard contracts can apply. The federal standard contract for domestic work (NAV Hauswirtschaft) sets minimum wages where it covers your Helper; it does not apply in Geneva. Your canton's standard contract sets working and rest time, and can also set holidays and notice, unless you agree otherwise. Where a standard contract sets a minimum wage, you may not agree less.

  2. The permit

    Before the first day, you must check that your Helper may work in Switzerland: look at their permit, or ask the migration office. The permit table below shows what the change needs and who acts. In Geneva, some permits need form R, the end of employment form the old household fills in.

  3. Accident insurance from the first day

    By law, your Helper is insured against accidents from the first day of the employment, including the way to work that day. Your household must make sure a policy with an approved insurer covers them. Take out the policy before the first day: without one, a substitute fund pays your Helper and charges your household substitute premiums. From 8 hours a week with your household, accidents outside work are covered too.

  4. Registration

    Register with the compensation office of the canton where your household is. Under the simplified procedure, register at the start of the employment. If you have never employed anyone and are not yet with a compensation office, you have 30 days from the start. If your household is already registered, or uses the ordinary procedure, ask your office when and how to report the new Helper.

    The simplified procedure has a wage limit. If your Helper works for you for less than a year, the limit is counted on the real period, not on a full year.

    How to register household help in Switzerland

  5. Withholding tax

    Under the simplified procedure, you deduct the flat 5% withholding tax and pass it to the compensation office; there is nothing to report to the tax office. Under the ordinary procedure, withholding tax applies to a Helper who lives outside Switzerland, or who lives here without a C permit. It does not apply to a Helper married to a Swiss citizen or to a C permit holder, unless they are separated. Where withholding tax applies, report your Helper to the tax office within 8 days of the start. If your Helper later marries or has a child, tell the tax office within 8 days too. For a Helper who lives in France, some cantons use a French residence certificate; your canton's tax office says what applies.

Check your duties as an employer

What each permit needs before the first day

Find your Helper's permit in the first column. Where a cell names the migration office, ask the office of the canton where your Helper works, before the first day, what is needed and who files it.

CWhat is neededNothingWho does it, and whenNobody
B issued for work, to a family member, or to an EU or EFTA citizenWhat is neededNothing. If the permit has a condition tied to one job, check with the migration office whether it still applies.Who does it, and whenNobody
B issued for study or another purposeWhat is neededAn authorization before the first dayWho does it, and whenFor a student, the new household applies. Otherwise: migration office.
L, EU or EFTA citizenWhat is neededNothing for the change itself. If the new contract runs past the end date of the permit, the permit must be extended or renewed.Who does it, and whenYour Helper applies. The new household signs a hiring declaration, its written confirmation of the new job.
L, other nationalitiesWhat is neededAn authorization before the first day. The conditions: important reasons for the change; the same branch and profession; staying with the old household is not possible or not reasonable; your Helper did not cause the change; the wage and working conditions customary for the place, the profession and the sector; and your Helper meets the personal conditions for a work permit. In every canton, the canton first decides on labour market grounds.Who does it, and whenGeneva: the new household applies and waits for the answer. Other cantons: migration office.
G (cross border commuter), EU or EFTA citizenWhat is neededA notice before the first day, in every cantonWho does it, and whenBy law, your Helper files it. Geneva: the new household may file it online, with form R from the old household. The request is filed 14 days before the new job starts. Work can start once the complete file is sent to the OCPM, Geneva's migration office. The cross border work permit is then sent to the new household, as the employer. Vaud: the new household may file it online on form G2; the permit is updated at every change of employer. Ticino: your Helper files it online with the migration office, and reports the end of the old job within 14 days.
G (cross border commuter), other nationalitiesWhat is neededAn authorization before the first day. The conditions: no suitable worker already allowed to work in Switzerland, or from the EU or EFTA, can be found, and the wage and working conditions customary for the place, the profession and the sector are met. In every canton, the canton first decides on labour market grounds. After 5 years of work without a break, only a notice is needed.Who does it, and whenAuthorization: in Geneva, the new household applies, and your Helper may not work until the canton answers. Elsewhere, Ticino included: migration office. Notice: your Helper files it.
CiWhat is neededGeneva: a notice before the first day. Other cantons: migration office.Who does it, and whenGeneva: your Helper sends it by post, with form K, the contract signed by both, and one of these from the old household: form R, a certificat de libre engagement (a letter releasing your Helper) or a copy of the work reference. No fee for a change of employer. The OCPM sets how early to file.
F, S, B of a refugee, statelessWhat is neededA notice before the first dayWho does it, and whenThe new household reports the start before work begins. By sending it, the household confirms that it knows and keeps the usual wage and working conditions; the canton may check them.
NWhat is neededAn authorizationWho does it, and whenThe new household applies to the canton where the work is done.
No permit: EU or EFTA citizen on a short stay (online notification procedure)What is neededA new online notice before work starts. Short stays have a yearly limit. It counts all your Helper's work in Switzerland in the calendar year, with every household. Past it, a permit is needed before the work goes on.Who does it, and whenEach new household files its own notice before work starts.

When the old household reports the end

  • In every canton: for a Helper with an F, S or refugee's B permit, or who is stateless, the old household reports the end of the employment. For an F permit, it reports the end before the employment ends.
  • Geneva: for G, a B with conditions, L of other nationalities, Ci and N, the old household reports the end on form R by post, within 14 days after the last day. For a refugee's B, S and F: online, on the form of the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM).
  • Vaud: the old household reports the end of a G on form G2.
  • Other cantons: ask the migration office whether it wants the end reported.

Work permits for household jobs

If you are the Helper

  • To leave, you give notice under your contract or your canton's standard contract.
  • After the probation period, your household may not give you notice while you cannot work through an illness or accident that is not your fault, for a time set by law. The same holds during pregnancy and the weeks after the birth.
  • Everything your old household owes you is due on your last day. It pays you, on your last payslip, for the holiday you have not taken and not yet been paid for.
  • Your old household's accident cover goes on for 31 days after the last day you have a right to at least half your wage.
  • Between two jobs, you can extend that cover for up to 6 months. Agree it with your old household's insurer before your cover ends. The insurer tells you the price. Your old household must tell you about this.
  • Tell your health insurer that you are leaving your old household's accident insurance, within 1 month of your old household's letter. Your old household must send you that letter before your last day. If another household still insures you against accidents, ask your health insurer what applies to you.
  • If you work for other households too, each one where you work at least 8 hours a week insures you against accidents outside work. Leaving one household does not change that.
  • In the ordinary procedure, each household you worked for this year gives you a salary certificate. A household in the simplified procedure gives none; the compensation office gives you a certificate of the tax paid instead.
  • If you live in France and the employment ends during the year, you can ask your old household for a tax certificate.
  • You can ask your old household for a reference letter at any time.
  • Your new household's accident policy covers you from your first day.
  • Your new household also registers as your employer with the compensation office.
  • Under the simplified procedure, your new household takes a flat tax from your wage and pays it to the compensation office.
  • Otherwise, withholding tax is taken from your wage if you live outside Switzerland, or live here without a C permit, unless you are married to a Swiss citizen or a C permit holder and not separated. If it is taken, your new household reports you to the tax office within 8 days of the start.
  • You never pay Helpore a fee.

Your permit

  • With a C permit, or a B issued for work, to a family member or to an EU or EFTA citizen, nothing is needed.
  • Not sure which kind of B you have, or does yours have a condition tied to one job? Ask the migration office before you start.
  • EU or EFTA citizen with a G permit (cross border commuter): you report the new job before you start. In Geneva and Vaud, your new household can do it for you. In Geneva, the request is filed 14 days before you start, and you ask your old household for form R. In Ticino, you also report the end of the old job within 14 days.
  • You are not an EU or EFTA citizen and have a G permit: until you have worked 5 years without a break, the change needs an authorization before you start. In Geneva, your new household applies; elsewhere, ask the migration office who files it.
  • After those years, you report the change yourself before you start.
  • EU or EFTA citizen with an L permit: if the new contract ends after your permit, you apply to extend or renew it. Your new household signs a hiring declaration.
  • Ci permit in Geneva: you send the notice by post before you start, with form K, the contract signed by both, and form R, a certificat de libre engagement (a letter releasing you) or a copy of your work reference from your old household.
  • Any other permit: the table above shows what the change needs.

Getting started as a Helper

Not a change of employer

Your Helper stays and only the payroll moves to a new service? That is a payroll switch, and your household stays the employer. Switching payroll

Checklist for both households

Old household

  • Notice under your contract or your canton's standard contract
  • Last payslip, paying out holiday not taken and not yet paid for
  • Ordinary procedure with withholding tax: your Helper's last day on the withholding tax statement
  • End notice for the permit, where one applies
  • Accident insurer: final wages sent. Your Helper told about the extension, and in writing, before the last day, about the health insurer
  • Compensation office: final wages declared after the settlement period ends, a large wage total change reported during the year (ordinary procedure), and the end reported as your office asks
  • Salary certificate, and the tax office copy where your canton asks for one (ordinary procedure)

New household

  • Contract agreed
  • Permit checked, and a notice or an authorization done where one is needed
  • Accident policy taken out, best before the first day
  • Registration with your canton's compensation office, or the new Helper reported if you are already registered
  • Withholding tax report, if it applies

Questions about changing employer

Who registers when a Helper changes household?

The new household registers as employer, with the compensation office of its canton. If it is already registered, its office says how to report the new Helper.

Do I need a new contract?

Yes. It is a new employment, with its own probation period.

Who issues the salary certificate?

Under the ordinary procedure, each household issues one for its months. Under the simplified procedure there is none; the compensation office gives your Helper a certificate of the tax paid.

Can I take over my Helper's employment from the old household?

Not by the old household's decision alone. For your household it is a new employment, with its own probation period.

What if a Helper works in a diplomat's household?

If your Helper holds a legitimation card F from the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), their employment follows the Ordinance on Private Household Staff (PHV), and a change of employer goes through the FDFA Protocol or the Swiss Mission. A Helper who is a Swiss citizen or holds a B, C or F permit keeps the rules on this page.

What applies to your household

With Helpore Admin Light, Helpore prepares the new household's registration pack and the payslips, and at the end the last payslip and the year's wage summary. You file and pay yourself. With Helpore Admin, your household files with the offices and reports the end of the employment. Under your signed power of attorney, Helpore prepares these filings and sends them in your household's name, as its agent. Both are optional.

Check your duties as an employerCompare Helpore Admin and Admin Light

Official sources