Service compliance guide
Cleaning and housekeeping: employing a Helper legally in Switzerland
Paying someone to work in your home makes your household their employer, with the same core duties as any domestic role: registration, social contributions, accident cover and proper pay. A few points are specific to this kind of help.
The core duties for Cleaning and housekeeping
Whatever the task, the framework is the same: register with your cantonal AHV compensation office (contributions are due from the first franc), pay AHV/IV/EO at 5.3 % each and ALV at 1.1 % each plus the family allowance contribution your canton sets, arrange UVG accident insurance, check BVG and withholding tax, and hand over a payslip with every wage payment. Part time Cleaning and housekeeping usually fits the simplified settlement procedure: up to CHF 22’680 a year per employee and CHF 60’480 of total payroll, with tax at a flat 5 % and no Lohnausweis. Above either limit you settle in the ordinary procedure and issue a Lohnausweis every year.
Is your Cleaning and housekeeping an employee or self-employed?
In a private household, someone you engage to work for you is almost always your employee, even if they also work for other families, because each household is a separate employer. Genuine self-employment is recognised only when the compensation office confirms it: the person works under their own name and account, carries the business risk, and typically serves several clients with their own equipment and invoicing. Until the office has confirmed self-employed status, treat Cleaning and housekeeping as employment and settle contributions accordingly.
Points specific to Cleaning and housekeeping
Most cleaning and housekeeping help is part-time and paid by the hour, which fits the simplified settlement procedure neatly. One distinction matters: if you engage a cleaning company that sends staff and invoices you (with VAT), that company is the employer, not you. If instead you arrange directly with the person who cleans your home, you are the employer and must settle their contributions: the employee-or-self-employed test above decides which case you are in.
What employing Cleaning and housekeeping actually costs
On top of the gross wage you pay the employer's share: 5.3 % for AHV/IV/EO and 1.1 % for ALV, plus the family allowance contribution your canton sets and the accident insurance premium. A wage up to CHF 22’680 a year carries no occupational pension (BVG). When each person earns at most CHF 22’680 a year and your household's total payroll stays at most CHF 60’480, the simplified procedure with its flat 5 % tax is open to you. The family allowance rate (by canton) and the accident premium (by insurer) vary; AHV/IV/EO and ALV are set by federal law (Federal Act on Old Age and Survivors' Insurance (AHVG) Art. 5 para. 1; Art. 13; Federal Act on Invalidity Insurance (IVG) Art. 3 para. 1; Federal Act on Compensation for Loss of Earnings (EOG) Art. 27 para. 2; Unemployment Insurance Act (AVIG) Art. 3 para. 2, 3; Family Allowances Act (FamZG) Art. 16; Federal Act on Accident Insurance (UVG) Art. 1a para. 1; Federal Act on Occupational Old Age, Survivors' and Invalidity Pension Provision (BVG) Art. 2 para. 1; Federal Act on Measures to Combat Illegal Employment (BGSA) Art. 2 para. 1; Federal Act on Direct Federal Taxation (DBG) Art. 37a para. 1; Federal Act on the Harmonisation of Direct Taxes of the Cantons and Communes (StHG) Art. 11 para. 4).
How Helpore handles Cleaning and housekeeping
Helpore matches you with verified Helpers for Cleaning and housekeeping and enforces the applicable wage floor. Your household is the employer. With Helpore Admin, Helpore runs the registration, payroll, insurance administration and documents in your name, under your power of attorney, so you can focus on the help itself.
Helpore Blog
Helpore studies with published Swiss data, sources and methods, plus practical guides to household employment, wages and payroll.
Questions about employing Cleaning and housekeeping
Do the same rules apply to Cleaning and housekeeping as to a cleaner?
Yes: the core household-employment duties are identical for Cleaning and housekeeping. The differences are mostly hours and pay: below CHF 22,680 a year there is no BVG, and non-occupational accident cover applies from 8 hours a week.
Can I use the simplified settlement procedure for Cleaning and housekeeping?
Yes, when each person earns at most CHF 22’680 a year and your household's total payroll is at most CHF 60’480 a year. Income tax is then settled at a flat 5 % (Federal Act on Measures to Combat Illegal Employment (BGSA) Art. 2 para. 1; Federal Act on Direct Federal Taxation (DBG) Art. 37a para. 1; Federal Act on the Harmonisation of Direct Taxes of the Cantons and Communes (StHG) Art. 11 para. 4).
If my cleaner works for several families, are they self-employed?
Not automatically: working for several households usually means being an employee of each one. Self-employment counts only when the compensation office has formally recognised it, so each family normally registers and settles contributions for the hours worked for them.
Official sources
Cantonal guides
Let Helpore take on the administration
Your household stays the employer. With Helpore Admin, under your signed power of attorney, Helpore registers the employment and runs payroll, insurance and documents in your name. With Admin Light, Helpore prepares the calculation and the documents, and you file and pay yourself.