Switzerland
Min. wage
(x12 payments)
Varies by region
About the minimum wage
Employer tax
~15-23%
Understand employer tax
Annual leave
20 days
Learn about annual leave
Notice period
1-3 months (by tenure)
Termination and notice info
Updated
Sep 2026
The default and most common contract type in Switzerland. It has no fixed end date and continues until terminated by either party via notice, mutual agreement, or for cause. Terms are governed primarily by the Swiss Code of Obligations (Art. 319 ff. OR) and, where applicable, supplemented by a collective bargaining agreement (CBA/GAV) or standard employment contract (NAV).
A fixed-term contract ends automatically on the agreed date without notice. It may be renewed, but successive renewals without an objective business reason risk being reclassified by a court as a de facto indefinite contract (the 'chain-contract' doctrine). There is no statutory maximum duration, though very long fixed terms are uncommon and may be scrutinized. Early termination generally requires mutual consent or good cause, unless the contract includes an ordinary-notice clause.
Under the Swiss Labour Act (ArG, Art. 9), the statutory maximum weekly working time is 45 hours for industrial workers, office/technical/sales staff, and retail employees, and 50 hours for all other employees. Actual contractual hours are typically lower (commonly 40-42 hours/week), set by individual contract or CBA. Overtime beyond the contractual (not statutory) threshold is generally compensated at +25% or with equivalent time off, per contract/CBA terms.
Unless the parties agree otherwise in writing, the first month of employment is a statutory probationary period (Art. 335b OR). It can be reduced or excluded by agreement, or extended up to a maximum of 3 months. During probation either party may terminate with 7 calendar days' notice, effective on any day (not restricted to month-end).
Swiss federal law does not impose a blanket 13th-month salary requirement; it becomes a binding entitlement where set out in the individual employment contract, a company policy/regulation, or an applicable CBA (GAV) - and also where an employer has consistently paid it without reservation for several years (generally 3+), under Swiss case law on established practice ('betriebliche Übung'). In practice, a 13th-month payment is near-universal across the Swiss labor market, usually paid in full in December or split between mid-year and December. A 14th-month salary exists in some sectors/CBAs but is far less common than the 13th.
Switzerland has no broad statutory requirement to align job titles with a national classification system, but certain professional titles are legally protected and require specific qualifications or registration to use - e.g., 'avocat/Anwalt' (lawyer), medical and healthcare titles (physician, nurse, pharmacist), regulated engineering titles, and finance roles requiring FINMA licensing. Employers should ensure job titles used in Switzerland do not imply a regulated qualification the employee does not actually hold.
Employer statutory AHV/IV/EO (old-age, disability, income-compensation) contribution is 5.30% of gross salary with no wage ceiling, plus ALV (unemployment insurance) at 1.10% up to CHF 148,200/year (a further 0.50% solidarity contribution applies above that threshold, uncapped). Combined statutory AHV/IV/EO + ALV employer rate = 6.40%. Separately, employers also fund: canton-dependent family allowances (roughly 1.2%-3.55%), mandatory occupational accident insurance (BUV/UVG - paid entirely by the employer, 0.1% to several percent depending on risk class), and the employer share of occupational pension (BVG/LPP), which must by law be at least equal to the employee share and typically totals 3.5%-9% of insured salary depending on the employee's age. All-in employer social cost is commonly quoted around 15%-23% of gross salary.
Employees pay AHV/IV/EO at 5.30% (uncapped) and ALV at 1.10% up to CHF 148,200/year (plus 0.50% solidarity contribution above that threshold). Combined statutory AHV/IV/EO + ALV employee rate = 6.40%. Employees separately fund non-occupational accident insurance (NBUV, roughly 0.5%-2.5% depending on insurer/risk class, mandatory only for employees working 8+ hours/week for one employer) and at least half of the BVG occupational pension contribution (3.5%-9% depending on age, matched at minimum by the employer). Ordinary income tax is withheld separately (at source for most foreign nationals without a C permit, or via self-declared return otherwise) and is not included in these percentages.
In addition to statutory leave, employees are entitled to the following statutory benefits:
Switzerland's social security system is funded through several parallel schemes rather than one combined payroll tax:
Accident insurance is mandatory and split by type:
Employees working under 8 hours/week for one employer are covered only for occupational accidents and must arrange their own non-occupational accident coverage (usually via health insurance).
Switzerland has no general statutory severance pay requirement for ordinary termination.
A 13th-month salary is not mandated by a single blanket federal law, but becomes a binding obligation once set out in the employment contract, company regulations, or an applicable CBA/GAV - or once established through consistent, unreserved payment over several years under Swiss case law on established practice.
P.S. our team speaks multiple languages and we'd love to chat in your preferred language if requested.
Your employee's hours, time off, holidays, bonuses, and commissions are automatically calculated into payroll. RemoFirst will invoice you in either US Dollars (USD), Euros (EUR), British Pounds (GBP), Canadian Dollars (CAD), Australian Dollars (AUD), or Singapore Dollars (SGD) around the 15th of each month to make sure your employees are paid on time. To make it even easier, you can summarize your entire global team's salaries to aggregate them into one payment (instead of many individual payments).
Unlike full-time employees, contractors work on projects with multiple companies at a given time and are technically self-employed. Full-time employees are solely focused on their employer and usually receive benefits (such as health insurance, equity or stock options, and time off) as an additional form of compensation. While it can be cheaper to work with international contractors instead of paying benefits to a full-time employee, you run the risk of misclassification. It's recommended to work with an EOR for contractor onboarding and payments, so you can know that your international contractors are paid compliantly and on time.
Whenever the employee or employer has a question about, or anything else related to international employment, they can speak with our customer support team to get answers from our team of experts.
