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Service compliance guide
Engaging Senior home help and companionship in your home makes you a household 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 type of help.
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 canton-set family-allowance contribution, arrange UVG accident insurance, check BVG and withholding-tax eligibility, and issue a year-end Lohnausweis. Part-time Senior home help and companionship usually fits the simplified settlement procedure — up to CHF 22,680 a year per employee and CHF 60,480 total payroll, with tax at a flat 5%.
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 Senior home help and companionship as employment and settle contributions accordingly.
Senior home help ranges from a few hours of companionship to live-in care, and the hours drive the duties: non-occupational accident cover becomes mandatory from 8 hours a week, and a wage above CHF 22,680 a year brings in occupational pension (BVG). For live-in or 24-hour arrangements there are specific working-time rules. When the carer is employed directly by the household, the Labour Act does not apply, but the Code of Obligations and the applicable model contract (NAV) still require a daily rest period of about 11 hours, breaks, and — importantly — that on-call or presence time is paid, not treated as free time. These arrangements are sensitive, so confirm the exact rest and presence-time rules for your situation.
On top of the gross wage you add the employer's first-pillar contributions — 5.3% for AHV/IV/EO and 1.1% for ALV — plus the canton-set family-allowance contribution and the accident-insurance premium, together roughly 8–10% of gross. A wage below CHF 22,680 a year carries no occupational pension (BVG), and below that figure per employee the simplified procedure with its flat 5% tax is available. The family-allowance rate (by canton) and the accident premium (by insurer) are the variable lines, so treat those as approximate; AHV at 5.3% and ALV at 1.1% are fixed.
Helpore matches you with verified helpers for Senior home help and companionship, enforces the applicable wage floor, and takes care of the household-employment administration — registration support, payroll allocation, insurance and documents — so you can focus on the help itself.
Yes — the core household-employment duties are identical for Senior home help and companionship. 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.
Yes, when the wage stays within the limits — up to CHF 22,680 a year per employee and CHF 60,480 total household payroll — with income tax discharged at a flat 5%.
Even though the Labour Act does not apply when a household employs the carer directly, the carer is entitled to a daily rest period of around 11 hours, to breaks, and to payment for on-call or presence time — these cannot be treated as unpaid. The model employment contract (NAV) for your canton sets the detail, so confirm it for a live-in arrangement.
Helpore registers the employment, allocates payroll, arranges insurance and produces the documents — so the compliance steps below are taken care of for you.