Employer of Record Guide in 

Switzerland

Vacation Leave

The statutory minimum is four weeks of paid vacation per service year, rising to five weeks for employees under age 20. At least two weeks should normally be taken consecutively. Contracts and collective agreements can grant more, but Swiss federal law does not create an automatic extra week solely because an employee is over 50 (vacation guidance).

Sick Leave

If the employment has lasted or was agreed for more than three months, an employer without equivalent daily sickness insurance generally continues salary for three weeks in the first service year and for an appropriately longer period in later years. Courts use regional scales to assess later-year duration. Many employers instead use daily sickness insurance that replaces the statutory continuation obligation if the cover is at least equivalent; policy terms must be checked.

An employer may request a medical certificate from the first day, although many policies or workplace rules request one after the third day. The contract or policy should state the reporting and certification process (sick-leave guidance).

Maternity Leave

Eligible mothers receive 14 weeks, or 98 daily allowances, starting on the day of birth. The allowance is 80% of prior average earnings, capped at CHF 220 per day. The standard eligibility test includes nine months of compulsory OASI coverage before birth and at least five months of gainful activity during that period, with special rules for premature birth and cross-border insurance periods (maternity allowance). Separate dismissal protection applies during pregnancy and for 16 weeks after birth, except during probation.

Leave for the Other Parent

An eligible employed other parent receives two weeks of leave, taken as 10 working days or 14 consecutive days within six months after birth. The income-replacement allowance is 80% of prior average earnings, capped at CHF 220 per day, subject to the social-insurance and employment tests (other-parent allowance).

Military/Civil Service Leave

Employees performing Swiss military, civilian or civil-defence service can receive loss-of-earnings compensation. For serving employees, the basic allowance is generally 80% of pre-service average earnings, subject to the applicable minimum and maximum daily rates. Employer salary-continuation duties and dismissal protection depend on the service duration and employment facts; coordinate payroll with the compensation office (2026 social-insurance overview).

Other Leave Types

• Care of a family member or partner: up to three paid days per event, normally capped at 10 days per service year; the annual cap does not apply in the same way to care for children.
• Seriously ill or injured minor child: up to 14 weeks of care leave, supported by up to 98 income-replacement daily allowances and usable within the statutory framework.
• Adoption: eligible employees adopting a child under age four can receive two weeks of leave within the first year after placement, shared between eligible parents but not taken simultaneously (adoption leave).
• Personal occasions: short leave for events such as a death, wedding, medical appointment or move depends on necessity, local practice, the contract and any collective agreement. Do not promise a fixed number of days without checking the applicable terms.

Summary

More generous contractual or collective-agreement terms override this baseline where applicable.

Termination Types

• Ordinary termination: either party may end an open-ended contract using the applicable notice period. An employer does not generally need cause for ordinary termination, but must provide written reasons if the other party requests them.
• Immediate termination: permitted only for serious cause that makes continued employment unreasonable; the facts and timing should be reviewed before action.
• Fixed-term expiry: the contract normally ends on its agreed date without notice. Early ordinary termination is available only if the contract provides for it.
• Mutual agreement: the parties can sign a separation agreement, but it should not be used to evade mandatory employee protections.

For an EOR hire, the employer of record is the contracting employer. A client instruction to end an assignment is not, by itself, a lawful termination notice to the employee.

Notice Period Requirements

Unless a valid written contract or collective agreement changes the rule within Swiss law:

Notice must reach the other party in time; the sending date alone is not enough. Check any collective agreement and protected period before confirming the last day (termination guidance).

Severance Pay

Swiss law still contains a narrow statutory seniority-payment rule for an employee who is at least 50 and has completed at least 20 years of service. The statutory range is generally two to eight months' salary, but employer-financed occupational-pension benefits can reduce or eliminate the amount. Contractual, social-plan or collective-agreement severance can also apply. Do not use “no statutory severance” as a universal rule (Code of Obligations).

Probationary Periods

For an open-ended contract, the default probation period is one month. A written contract, standard employment contract or collective agreement can reduce it or extend it to a maximum of three months. The default notice during probation is seven calendar days. Absence due to illness, accident or a non-voluntary legal duty can extend probation by the corresponding time (termination guidance).

Final Pay Requirements

Claims arising from the employment relationship generally become due when employment ends. Reconcile salary through the final day, approved expenses, overtime or statutory overtime, any earned contractual salary component, and unused vacation that cannot be taken before departure. Apply payroll deductions and issue the final payslip. On request, provide a work certificate covering the nature and duration of employment and the employee's performance and conduct, or a simple confirmation of employment (work certificates).

Anti-Discrimination & Wrongful Dismissal

An employer must screen both timing and reason. After probation, statutory blocking periods can prevent employer notice during pregnancy and the 16 weeks after birth, qualifying military/civil service, and illness or accident for 30 days in year one, 90 days in years two through five and 180 days from year six. Notice for an abusive reason—such as protected personal characteristics, exercising a constitutional right or asserting employment claims—can lead to compensation of up to six months' salary. Separate equality-law remedies can apply to sex discrimination (SECO termination FAQ).

2026 Public Holidays

August 1 is Switzerland's only federal public holiday. Cantons may designate up to eight additional holidays with the same status as Sundays, and municipalities can have further local observances. This means a nationwide list of nine statutory holidays is not accurate (holiday guidance).

The table is a planning aid, not a substitute for the employee's official canton and municipality calendar. See the official 2026 lists for Zurich and Geneva.

Cantonal Variations

Set the employee's habitual workplace before loading the holiday calendar. Then check:

1. the canton's statutory holidays;
2. any municipality-specific observance;
3. the employee's agreed work schedule; and
4. any collective agreement or employer policy.

A holiday that falls on a non-working day does not generally create a replacement day. Remote work from another canton does not automatically allow the employer to apply headquarters' holidays.

Holiday Pay Rules

August 1 is a paid federal holiday. For other cantonal holidays, monthly-paid employees normally continue to receive their salary; entitlement for hourly-paid employees depends on the contract, standard employment contract or collective agreement.

Work on a statutory public holiday is generally treated under the rules for Sunday work and may require authorization. Temporary Sunday work carries a 50% wage supplement and compensatory rest; regular or permanent Sunday work can follow different compensation rules (Sunday work). There is no general Swiss rule requiring 200% pay plus a compensatory day for every public-holiday shift.

Required Documentation

Prepare and validate these items before the agreed start date:

• written employment contract and job description;
• passport or national identity document;
• home address, civil status and any dependent information needed for payroll or source tax;
• work/residence permit or EU/EFTA notification evidence, where applicable;
• agreed salary currency and payment account details;
• social-insurance number, if already issued;
• occupational-pension enrollment data when eligible;
• accident-insurance enrollment;
• source-tax data where applicable; and
• any sector-specific credential or collective-agreement classification.

An employment contract can be oral unless a specific rule requires writing, but written terms are strongly recommended. For an indefinite contract or one lasting more than one month, the employer must provide written information on the parties, start date, function, pay and weekly hours within one month of the start (contract formation).

Work Authorization Requirements

Do not let a non-EU/EFTA employee start before the required authorization and local registration are complete. Citizenship, residence, cross-border status, role and canton all affect the route.

Banking & Payment Setup

Swiss law does not impose a general rule that every employee must open a Swiss bank account. The contract should state the gross salary, currency, payment cycle and destination account. Confirm that the chosen account can receive the agreed currency without delaying or reducing net pay through avoidable fees. Salary is generally due at month-end, and the payslip should reconcile all deductions (SECO payroll steps).

Language Requirements

There is no blanket federal rule requiring every employment contract to be written in the local cantonal language. Use a language both parties understand, and supply an authoritative local-language version when required for an authority, collective agreement, safety instruction or workplace process. German, French, Italian and Romansh are Switzerland's national languages, but actual workplace and authority language depends on the canton and organization.

Data Protection Compliance

The employer may process employee data only to the extent it concerns suitability for the job or is necessary to perform the employment contract. Collect only what the stated purpose requires, restrict access and set retention rules. Employee consent is not a universal cure because the power imbalance can make it invalid; use the correct legal basis for each process (employee data).

Before HR or payroll data leaves Switzerland, identify the destination and vendor chain. Transfers to a country without an adequate protection finding require an approved safeguard or another lawful exception (cross-border transfers).

Onboarding Timeline

Use a dependency plan instead of a generic one-to-eight-week promise:

1. Before offer approval: confirm nationality, residence, work location, canton, sector, collective agreement, salary floor and role classification.
2. Before the start date: sign the contract; complete any permit application or EU/EFTA notification; arrange occupational accident cover and pension enrollment where applicable.
3. At payroll setup: collect source-tax and social-insurance data, configure the agreed salary cycle and validate the payment account.
4. After start: meet the applicable compensation-office, source-tax, pension and annual wage-reporting deadlines.

Permit lead times are case-specific and authority-controlled. Give a committed start date only after the required authorization and employer registrations have been confirmed.

Worker Classification

Swiss authorities decide employment status from the real working relationship. Indicators of self-employment include working in one's own name and for one's own account, bearing financial risk, organizing work independently, using one's own infrastructure and serving multiple clients. No single indicator is decisive, and the compensation office can reach a different conclusion from the contract label (self-employment guidance).

Misclassification can trigger retroactive social-insurance contributions, interest, payroll corrections and employment claims. An EOR should be used for a genuine employment relationship; it does not convert an independent business into an employee without changing how the work is actually organized.

Collective Bargaining Agreements

A collective labour agreement can regulate minimum pay, working time, allowances, leave, notice and other conditions. A generally binding agreement can apply to all employers and employees within its defined sector and territory, even if they did not sign it. Check both federal and cantonal agreement lists against the role, employer activity and work location before issuing the contract (SECO agreements).

Cantonal and Cross-Border Scope

Avoid using cultural stereotypes as an employment rule. Record the facts that change compliance instead: the employee's habitual workplace, canton and municipality; home residence; citizenship and permit; work language; collective agreement; travel pattern; and any regular work outside Switzerland. These inputs can change holidays, minimum pay, source tax, social security, permits and data-transfer requirements.

Remote Work Considerations

Swiss working-time and health-protection duties continue to apply in the home office, and the employer remains responsible for appropriate work organization and health safeguards (SECO home office). A written remote-work arrangement should cover location, schedule and time recording, equipment, expenses, security, confidential information and the right to change the arrangement.

Regular work from another country can change tax, social-security, immigration, permanent-establishment and data-transfer exposure. Review the cross-border pattern before approval; a general remote-work policy is not enough.

What Borderless AI Handles

Borderless AI's current Switzerland service page states that it employs workers through its Swiss legal entity and administers CHF payroll, withholding, social-security contributions, occupational pension, accident insurance and family-allowance contributions (Switzerland EOR service).

The exact service scope, benefits, immigration support, fee and feasible onboarding date must be confirmed in the country-specific quote and service agreement. The client still needs to provide accurate role, pay, work-location and day-to-day workplace information and to follow the agreed approval process.