Swiss household employment
Cantonal minimum wage: where the canton sets the floor
Also written: Kantonaler Mindestlohn · Salaire minimum cantonal · Salario minimo cantonale
Which cantons have a minimum wage, and does it apply to household work?
Switzerland has no national minimum wage. Basel-Stadt, Geneva, Jura, Neuchâtel and Ticino have a cantonal minimum wage law, and it follows the place of work: where the worker or the employer lives does not matter. Whether it applies to household work depends on the canton. In Geneva and Neuchâtel it applies to household work too. In Basel-Stadt and Jura it gives way where the federal NAV covers your Helper, and the NAV's minimum wages are the ones to pay. In Ticino it covers household work too, and which minimum applies depends on the year.
What it means if you employ someone at home
If your home is in Geneva or Neuchâtel, the cantonal minimum wage applies to household work too, and you pay at least that minimum. In Basel-Stadt and Jura the cantonal minimum wage gives way where the federal NAV covers your Helper, and you pay at least the NAV's minimum wage. In Ticino you pay at least the cantonal minimum, except during a transition period set by the cantonal law: then, where the NAV covers your Helper, the NAV's minimum wages apply instead. Helpore's floor for your address never sits below the minimum that binds by law, in Basel-Stadt and Jura Helpore keeps the cantonal figure as its own floor, and a Helper cannot publish a rate below Helpore's floor for your area.
You are the employer. With Helpore Admin, Helpore prepares a contract 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.
The numbers
The cantonal hourly minimums, gross, and the lowest federal minimum for domestic work. Where a label names Helpore's floor, the cantonal law gives way for household work the NAV covers:
- Geneva statutory minimum wage
- CHF 24.59 / hour
- Helpore's floor at the Basel-Stadt minimum wage
- CHF 22.20 / hour
- Helpore's floor at the Jura minimum wage
- CHF 21.40 / hour
- Neuchatel statutory minimum wage
- CHF 21.35 / hour
- Ticino statutory minimum wage
- CHF 20.00 / hour
- Federal minimum, domestic work
- CHF 20.35 / hour
Common questions
Does the minimum wage depend on where the Helper lives?
No. It depends on where the work is done. A Helper commuting in from Vaud or from France to a Geneva household is owed the Geneva minimum.
What about cantons without one, like Zurich or Vaud?
The federal standard contract for domestic work sets the floor there, graded by qualification. Some cities set their own minimum above it; see the entry on municipal minimum wages.
Which minimum wage applies in Ticino?
Ticino's minimum wage law covers household work, and a standard contract with a lower minimum wage does not lower the law's minimum, except from 1 January 2027 to 31 December 2028. In that period, where the federal NAV covers your Helper, the NAV's minimum wages apply instead of the cantonal one.