Swiss household employment
Feiertage: public holidays for household staff
Also written: Feiertage · Jours fériés · Giorni festivi
Which public holidays must be paid in Switzerland?
The national holiday on the first of August is the only public holiday that federal law declares paid: under employment law it counts as a Sunday. Whether you, the employer, also pay other public holidays depends on the canton, its standard contract for household work and your contract.
What it means if you employ someone at home
On a monthly wage or fixed days, the agreed wage simply runs on over a public holiday. On irregular hours, a share for public holidays can be added to every hour worked, as for holidays. Show it in the contract and on every payslip.
You are the employer. With Helpore Admin, Helpore fills in a contract template if you want one and, under your signed power of attorney, files the declarations and produces the payslip in your name; with Admin Light, Helpore prepares the maths and the documents and you file and pay. Both are optional. You stay the employer in every case and can also do all of this yourself.
Public holidays by canton
Each canton page shows the paid public holidays and the public holidays under canton law for the year, with their sources.
Common questions
Are public holidays paid on an hourly wage?
On an hourly wage with irregular hours, public holidays are paid through a share added to every hour worked; the standard contract of the canton sets it. On an hourly wage with fixed hours, a paid public holiday that falls on a working day is paid for the hours your Helper would have worked.
Do domestic workers get paid public holidays?
Yes. The national holiday is a paid public holiday everywhere in Switzerland, and the standard contract of the canton can add further paid days. On a monthly wage or fixed days the agreed wage runs on, so you deduct nothing for those days. Name the paid public holidays in the contract.
How many public holidays does an employer have to pay?
It depends on the canton. Federal law declares only the national holiday paid; some cantons add further paid days for household work in their standard contract, others add none. Each canton also keeps its own list of public holidays, which can be longer than the paid list.
Are you forced to work on public holidays?
Agree in the contract whether your Helper works on public holidays. The Labour Act does not apply to private households, so the standard contract of the canton sets the rules. Where it has one, work on a public holiday earns a supplement or a paid day off in lieu.
How much time off do you get in Switzerland?
Your Helper is entitled to at least 4 weeks of paid holiday a year, and a young person to 5 weeks. Public holidays come on top: a paid public holiday that falls within the holiday is not counted as a holiday day. On irregular hours, holiday pay and the public holiday share are two separate supplements on each hour.