Switzerland 🇨đź‡
Congratulations on your decision to hire in Switzerland! With its robust economy and a multilingual workforce, Switzerland provides a rich and diverse landscape for cultivating your business's growth. Plane simplifies the hiring process for you by offering automated tax document collection, payroll, benefits administration, and more, while ensuring compliance and maximum efficiency. Still, hiring in a new country can pose certain challenges, so we’ve put together the following guide on how to navigate the process of hiring in Switzerland.
Currency
CHF
 Onboarding
2.5 to 4 weeks minimum
Employer Cost
15.4%
Pay Frequency
Monthly
Public Holidays
9+
6 Considerations Before Hiring in Switzerland
As an employer in Switzerland, it is important to have a comprehensive employment contract that outlines the terms and conditions of the employment relationship. The contract should include need-to-know info on compensation, benefits, vacation time, and sick leave policies. Before onboarding a new employee in Switzerland, take a moment to consider the following:
Getting Started with Hiring in Switzerland
Employment Contract
In Switzerland, employment contracts must comply with the Swiss Code of Obligations, including minimum wage requirements, statutory working hours, leave entitlements, and termination procedures.Swiss law recognizes various types of employment contracts, including indefinite (permanent), fixed-term, and on-call contracts. Fixed-term contracts automatically end on the specified date without the need for a notice. If the employment continues beyond the term without objection from either party, the contract may become an indefinite contract.Employment contracts should explicitly mention the duration and terms of probation periods.
Payroll Timelines and Dates
Pay Frequency: Employee payroll is monthly, with 12 pay periods per year. Pay is distributed on the last business day of the month.Payroll Change Cutoff Dates: To meet payroll deadlines, any changes must be submitted to support@plane.com by the cutoff date. For Switzerland, the payroll change cutoff date is on the last business day of the previous month. For example, changes to June payroll would need to be received no later than May 31, if May 31 is a business day.Plane sends payroll summaries to admins at the end of the second week of the month. After that, charges are automatically debited. Payroll summaries are also available to admins in their Plane accounts. Payday may vary based on country requirements.
Working Hours
The standard legal limit for working hours in Switzerland is 45 hours per week for industrial workers, office staff, technical staff, and sales staff in large retail firms.For employees in all other sectors, the standard working week is 50 hours. These hours are typically spread over five days, making the average workday around eight to nine hours.Employees may be requested to work overtime to fulfill certain business needs. However, the total number of hours, including overtime, must adhere to legal limits. Overtime work must be compensated with either additional pay (at a rate of at least 125% of the regular pay) or with time off in lieu of pay.Employees who work on Sundays (who don’t typically work on Sundays) are entitled to 150% standard pay and one hour of time off per hour worked, up to five hours worked. If they work more than five hours on a Sunday, they’re entitled to 24 hours of compensatory time off in addition to the higher pay rate.
Public Holidays
Switzerland only has one national public holiday, Swiss National Day (August 1). However, each of the 26 cantons that make up Switzerland determines what public holidays it will recognize. Different cantons celebrate anywhere from nine to 15 public holidays each year.Public holidays in Switzerland are typically non-working days for most employees. If an employee works on a public holiday, they are entitled to the same benefits owed to employees who work on Sundays -— 1.5 times pay and equivalent hours of paid time off.
Compensation
We recommend using Plane's Remote Compensation Tool to check remote salary data in Switzerland by job title.Discretionary bonuses are common and are often paid toward the end of the year as a 13th month salary. Workers on fixed-term contracts sometimes receive a bonus when the contract expires.
Health Insurance Benefits
Health insurance is mandatory for everyone living in Switzerland, including employees. However, unlike in some countries, it is typically not the employer's responsibility to provide this insurance or contribute to employees’ premiums. Instead, individuals must obtain and maintain their own health insurance coverage from one of the many private health insurance companies.Employers may choose to offer private health insurance as an additional employee benefit, or, commonly, as Plane recommends, employers opt to offer a healthcare allowance or subsidy.
Sick Leave
Employers are required to provide accident and illness insurance for their employees to cover both occupational accidents and non-occupational accidents (for employees who work at least eight hours a week). This benefit will provide a portion of the employee’s salary while they are sick, for up to 730 days.Without accident or illness insurance, employers must offer paid sick leave for a certain period of time: three weeks for the first year of employment, and increasing up to four months based on tenure.Employees are protected from dismissal while on sick leave and a period after that sick leave ends, either 30, 90, or 180 days depending on the employee’s length of service.
Annual Leave
All employees in Switzerland are entitled to at least four weeks of paid annual leave each year. This mandated amount of PTO increases to five weeks for employees under the age of 20. It’s up to an employer’s discretion whether to choose to offer additional annual leave above these minimums.If, during vacation, an employee falls ill or has a serious accident, they are entitled to postpone their vacation with provision of a valid medical certificate.If a public holiday falls during an employee’s vacation, that day does not count towards their paid leave usage.
Unpaid Leave
Employees may legally take unpaid leave for the following occasions, without making up those lost hours at work:
- A court appearance or similar legal appointment
- Public duties (working as a member of the government, etc.)
- Marriage
- Death of a close relative
- Moving house
Maternity / Paternity / Parental Leave
Employees are entitled to 14 weeks of paid maternity leave, beginning on the day the baby is born. The maternity benefit amounts to 80% of their salary but no more than CHF 220 per day. Mothers are allowed to extend their maternity leave for an additional two weeks of unpaid leave, without benefits, and may ask employers to take longer periods of unpaid maternity leave.You may not dismiss employees who are pregnant or on maternity leave. Partners are entitled to paternity leave or “second parent leave,” provided they meet certain conditions. Paternity leave lasts for two weeks, and is entitled to the same benefit amount as maternity leave. Second parents may take this leave all at once, or in individual days in the six months after the child’s birth. Eligible employees may take two weeks of paid adoption leave when adopting a child, and also may take this leave in blocks, weeks, or individual days. This leave may be shared between adoptive parents or used by one or the other, as long as the parents do not both take leave at the same time.
Employment / Termination
In Switzerland, either employer or employee may terminate their employment relationship with appropriate notice. The notice period depends on the employee’s length of service, ranging from one to three months. This notice period begins at the end of the month in which notice is given. For example, if an employee for whom the notice period is two months receives a termination notice on May 15, their last day of work will be July 31. The notice period consists of the remaining days in May, and the months of June and July.If requested by the other party, the party terminating an indefinite employment contract must provide the reason for the termination in writing. Otherwise, neither party is required to state their motivation for ending the relationship. However, an employer must keep terminations fair and not abusive. At Plane, we process involuntary offboarding via Mutual Termination Agreement (MTA) as a common practice that enables an employer to terminate an employee while trying to minimize the risk of litigation and cost. It is a separation agreement including unused leave, notice period, severance, and terms negotiated between the parties in exchange for a waiver where an employee waives their right to challenge a termination as unfair or unlawful. The notice period varies based on the length of employment.It is important to note that Plane often cannot facilitate unilateral terminations or dismissals. These types of termination are a potential source of litigation that can expose employers to increased damages and other costs. Also, the reason for these terminations may not be valid for an employer of record. The notice period varies based on the length of employment.We ask that you give us as much notice as possible and involve us right from the beginning of the process so we can better support and guide you through the process. Involuntary termination can take time to negotiate with the employees to mutually agree and end on good terms. Here you can find additional information on how to terminate an employee.
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Annual cost of employment*
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| Salary | Taxes (32.65%) | Total | |
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| Monthly | 0BRL | 0BRL | 0BRL |
| Annual | 0BRL | 0BRL | 0BRL |
*rates for: December 11, 2024
Once you have sorted out the details mentioned above, you can add the employee to the Plane platform. We provide a step-by-step workflow that shows what tasks need to be completed, as well as real-time updates and notifications. This way, you can stay on top of the hiring process at all times. With Plane, you can confidently hire, knowing that you have a powerful platform at your disposal to manage the entire process from start to finish. Here are the instructions for adding a new employee to the platform:
How to hire and onboard an employee
Plane offers a guided process for administrators and managers to hire and onboard their new employees...
Learn moreHiring an employee in a new country can be a complex process, but with the right guidance and resources, it can be a smooth and successful transition. At Plane, we're committed to helping you navigate the process of hiring an employee in Switzerland. We'll keep you informed and up-to-date with the latest regulations and employment laws.Best of luck with your new hire, and welcome to Switzerland!
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are the answers to some common questions about hiring employees in Switzerland with Plane:
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