Switzerland is a country located in Central Europe, known for its beautiful lakes, villages, and the high peaks of the Alps. Banking and finance are Switzerland’s key industries, and Swiss watches and chocolates are also key features that make this country recognizable. The total area of the country is 41,285 square kilometers distributed across 26 cantons, making it the 135th largest country in the world. The country borders Germany to the north, France to the west, Italy to the south, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. The city of Zurich is the largest in the country with about 1,000,000 inhabitants. Switzerland’s administrative capital is Bern, while Lausanne serves as its judicial center. Companies looking to hire employees in Switzerland can benefit from understanding Switzerland working hours and statutory holidays in Switzerland.
*Please note that the official currency is the currency of remuneration when employed through WorkMotion in Switzerland.
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Switzerland is a country located in Central Europe, known for its beautiful lakes, villages, and the high peaks of the Alps. Banking and finance are Switzerland’s key industries, and Swiss watches and chocolates are also key features that make this country recognizable. The total area of the country is 41,285 square kilometers distributed across 26 cantons, making it the 135th largest country in the world. The country borders Germany to the north, France to the west, Italy to the south, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. The city of Zurich is the largest in the country with about 1,000,000 inhabitants. Switzerland’s administrative capital is Bern, while Lausanne serves as its judicial center. Companies looking to hire employees in Switzerland can benefit from understanding Switzerland working hours and statutory holidays in Switzerland.
*Please note that the official currency is the currency of remuneration when employed through WorkMotion in Switzerland.
The national holidays mentioned below are valid for the year 2026 and are critical for hiring in Switzerland planning:
The national holidays mentioned below are valid for the year 2025 and are critical for hiring in Switzerland planning:
| January 1 | New Year’s Day | |
| January 2 | St Berchtold's Day | AG, BE, FR, GL, JU, LU, OW, SH, TG, VD |
| January 6 | Epiphany | GR, LU, SZ, TI & UR |
| March 1 | Republic Day | NE |
| March 19 | St Joseph's Day | GR, LU, NW, SZ, TI, UR & VS |
| March 26 | Fahrtsfest | GL |
| April 3 | Good Friday | Movable; National except TI & VS |
| April 6 | Easter Monday | Movable; National except NE, SO, VS & ZG |
| May 1 | Labor Day | BL, BS, JU, LU, NE, SH, SO, TG, TI & ZH |
| May 14 | Ascension Day | Movable |
| May 25 | Whit Monday | Movable; National except NE, SO, VS, & ZG |
| June 4 | Corpus Christi | Movable; National except AR, BL, BS, BE, GE, GL, NE, SH, SG, TG, VD & ZH |
| August 1 | Swiss National Day | |
| August 15 | Assumption Day | Movable; AG, AI, FR, JU, LU, NW, OW, SO; SZ, TI, UR, VS & ZG |
| September 10 | Geneva’s Fast | GE |
| September 21 | Federal Fast Monday | VD |
| September 22 | St. Maurice Day | AI |
| September 25 | St. Nicholas of Flüe’s Day | OW |
| November 1 | All Saints' Day | National except AR, BL, BS, BE, GE, GR, NE, SH, TG, VD & ZH |
| December 8 | Immaculate Conception | Movable; AG, AI, FR, GR, LU, NW, OW, SZ, TI, UR, VS & ZG |
| December 25 | Christmas Day | |
| December 26 | St. Stephen’s Day | National except GE, JU, NE, SO, VS, VD & ZG |
| December 31 | St. Sylvester's Day | GL |
| December 31 | Restoration of the Rebuplic | GE |
The approximate time for sharing the contract with an employee in Switzerland is 2 business days, assuming no special requests or changes to our standard employment contract. Any such requests or changes would need to undergo internal and external review, directly leading to a time delay. Using an EOR in Switzerland can simplify and speed up this process.
NOTE: This number is subject to change and is only an estimation of the Contract Sharing Time. The estimated Contract Sharing Time begins from the moment that WorkMotion has received all required information from both the client and the employee.
| Benefits | Employer Contribution |
| OASI (Old Age and Survivor’s Insurance)
Disability insurance (DI) |
4.35%
0.70% |
| Unemployment Insurance | 1.1% |
| Supplementary Unemployment Insurance | 0.5% |
| Family Compensation Fund | 1-3% |
| Occupational accident insurance | 0.17 to 13.5% |
Under Swiss law, the maximum weekly working hours for industrial workers, office staff, technicians, and other employees are set at 45 hours. The limit for all other workers is 50 hours per week. Most employees work between 40 and 42 working hours per week.
An employee is entitled to breaks of the following minimum duration:
Extra hours accrue when working hours exceed the statutory maximum number of working hours per week (45 to 50 hours depending on the sector). Extra hours:
For employees working in large retail undertakings, office staff, technical employees, and others, including the sales staff, the employer shall pay overtime wage only where overtime work exceeds 60 hours in a calendar year.
The probation period for open-ended contracts lasts one month, but the employer may offer a shorter or longer probation period (up to a maximum of three months). In this case, the employee and the employer must have a written agreement. Understanding these rules is essential for hiring in Switzerland, either directly or through an EOR Switzerland.
A seven-day period of notice before termination is served during probation.
At the end of the probationary period, an employment contract may be terminated with effect from the end of any month, subject to:
| Employment duration | Notice period |
| 1st year of service | 1 month |
| 2nd to 9th year of service | 2 months |
| More than 9 years of service | 3 months |
Under Swiss law, the maximum weekly working hours for industrial workers, office staff, technicians, and other employees are set at 45 hours. The limit for all other workers is 50 hours per week. Most employees work between 40 and 42 working hours per week.
An employee is entitled to breaks of the following minimum duration:
Extra hours accrue when working hours exceed the statutory maximum number of working hours per week (45 to 50 hours depending on the sector). Extra hours:
For employees working in large retail undertakings, office staff, technical employees, and others, including the sales staff, the employer shall pay overtime wage only where overtime work exceeds 60 hours in a calendar year.
The probation period for open-ended contracts lasts one month, but the employer may offer a shorter or longer probation period (up to a maximum of three months). In this case, the employee and the employer must have a written agreement. Understanding these rules is essential for hiring in Switzerland, either directly or through an EOR Switzerland.
A seven-day period of notice before termination is served during probation.
At the end of the probationary period, an employment contract may be terminated with effect from the end of any month, subject to:
| Employment duration | Notice period |
| 1st year of service | 1 month |
| 2nd to 9th year of service | 2 months |
| More than 9 years of service | 3 months |
| Benefits | Employer Contribution |
| OASI (Old Age and Survivor’s Insurance)
Disability insurance (DI) |
4.35%
0.70% |
| Unemployment Insurance | 1.1% |
| Supplementary Unemployment Insurance | 0.5% |
| Family Compensation Fund | 1-3% |
| Occupational accident insurance | 0.17 to 13.5% |
WorkMotion acts as the legal Employer of Record for your Swiss-based hire, handling every step from contract generation to monthly payroll remittance.
WorkMotion generates a locally compliant employment contract aligned with the Swiss Code of Obligations (CO) and any applicable collective labour agreements (CLAs).
Switzerland has four official languages and 26 cantons, each with its own employment nuances — contracts are drafted in the appropriate language for the employee’s canton of residence (German, French, or Italian).
The contract covers the statutory requirements: working hours, probation terms, notice periods, and applicable CLA provisions.
Before the first payroll run, WorkMotion registers your employee with the relevant Swiss authorities.
This includes enrollment with the cantonal AHV/AVS compensation office for:
For employees without a C permit, WorkMotion also handles Quellensteuer (withholding tax) registration with the relevant cantonal tax authority.
WorkMotion runs global payroll in Swiss francs (CHF), calculating and remitting all mandatory contributions.
The main employer-side obligations include:
Payroll reporting uses Swissdec-certified processes to ensure accurate electronic submission across the multiple authorities involved.
Your employee receives a clear payslip; you receive a single invoice in CHF covering all employment costs.
WorkMotion enrolls employees in all mandatory benefit schemes from day one.
This includes:
Switzerland’s health insurance is individually arranged – it is not tied to employment.
Each month, WorkMotion processes payroll, withholds the correct employee contributions, remits employer contributions to the relevant cantonal and federal authorities, and handles Quellensteuer filings where applicable.
Annual salary certificates (Lohnausweis) are prepared and submitted in line with Swiss reporting requirements.
Swiss employment law operates at both federal and cantonal levels, and the rules change.
Cantonal tax rates are adjusted annually — several cantons revised their rates for 2025. On top of that, BVG entry thresholds and insurable salary caps are updated each year.
WorkMotion monitors these changes and applies them automatically.
For most companies hiring one to a handful of employees in Switzerland, the choice between EOR and entity setup comes down to speed, cost, and how much compliance infrastructure you want to own.
Here’s how the two paths compare:
| WorkMotion EOR | Switzerland Entity Setup | |
|---|---|---|
| Setup cost | Per-employee monthly fee; no incorporation costs | Estimated between CHF 5,000–20,000+ in establishment costs, plus notary fees, share capital (CHF 20,000 minimum for a GmbH), and professional fees |
| Time to first hire | Days from signed contract | Weeks to months. GmbH registration alone can take 5–60 days depending on the canton, plus additional time for tax, social security, and payroll registrations |
| Ongoing legal exposure | WorkMotion holds legal employer liability; compliance is managed end-to-end | Your entity is directly liable for all employment law, payroll accuracy, cantonal tax filings, and social security obligations |
| Ongoing admin burden | Single monthly invoice; WorkMotion manages all authority interactions | Ongoing coordination across AHV compensation office, cantonal tax authority, BVG pension fund, SUVA, and FAK, each with separate reporting cycles |
| Exit flexibility | Wind down employment without dissolving a legal entity | Closing a Swiss entity requires formal deregistration, tax clearance, and commercial register filings |
Using an EOR in Switzerland is well-suited to companies that need to hire quickly, want to test the market before committing to a permanent structure, or are hiring a small number of employees and cannot justify the overhead of setting up an entity.
Entity setup makes more sense when you are building a large, permanent Swiss team, need direct contractual relationships with Swiss clients, or have strategic reasons to operate under your own Swiss legal identity.
WorkMotion’s Direct Hiring solution also provides a middle path — allowing you to register as a foreign employer in Switzerland while WorkMotion handles payroll and compliance.
Switzerland looks straightforward from the outside. It has a stable legal framework, a business-friendly reputation, and relatively low unionization rates. But the compliance reality for foreign employers is more layered than it appears.
Switzerland has no federal minimum wage. What it does have is a patchwork of cantonal minimum wages and sector-specific CLA minimums that vary significantly by region. For example, Geneva’s minimum wage stands at CHF 24.48 per hour as of 2025, while the minimum wage in Basel-Stadt (Basel-City) is CHF 22.20 per hour.
Companies that apply a single salary floor across all Swiss cantons risk underpaying employees in higher-cost regions. WorkMotion applies the correct cantonal and CLA-specific minimums for each hire based on their location and sector.
Swiss social security is not a single contribution to a single authority.
Employers must register and remit separately for:
Each has its own reporting cycle, its own authority, and its own annual rate adjustments.
Employers who try to manage this directly without local expertise frequently miss filings or apply incorrect rates. WorkMotion handles all three pillars from day one, using Swissdec-certified payroll processes for accurate electronic reporting.
Employees who are not Swiss citizens or do not hold a C permit are subject to Quellensteuer, income tax withheld at source by the employer.
The applicable rate varies by canton, income level, and personal circumstances. Employers who fail to register for Quellensteuer or apply the wrong cantonal rate face back-tax liability.
WorkMotion identifies the correct withholding obligation for each employee and registers with the relevant cantonal tax authority before the first payroll run.
Public holidays, minimum wages, and certain employment protections vary by canton.
An employee based in Zurich and an employee based in Geneva can have different statutory holiday entitlements, different minimum wage floors, and different family allowance rates — even under the same employment contract structure.
Foreign employers who apply a single national template miss these distinctions. WorkMotion’s contracts and payroll configurations are canton-specific, not just country-level.
Switzerland has no statutory requirement for a 13th-month salary at the federal level. But it is so common in Swiss employment practice that many employees expect it, and some CLAs make it mandatory in specific sectors.
Foreign employers who omit it from offer letters without understanding the local context risk losing candidates or creating disputes later.
WorkMotion’s local HR team flags CLA obligations and market norms during the onboarding process, so your offer is competitive and legally sound.
If you want to find out the rough cost of hiring a Swiss employee, use our Employment Cost Calculator.
Swiss law protects employees from dismissal during periods of incapacity due to illness or accident. The protected period varies by length of service, and the protection applies even when the incapacity is unrelated to the workplace.
Foreign employers who issue termination notices during a protected period face legal exposure, regardless of intent. WorkMotion’s compliance team tracks these protections and advises on timing before any termination process begins.
Switzerland’s technology sector — particularly in Zurich and Basel — produces specialized engineering, fintech, and life sciences talent that is difficult to find elsewhere in Europe.
German and Dutch SMEs with 50–300 employees regularly use WorkMotion’s employer of record in Switzerland to hire senior engineers or product specialists without setting up a Swiss GmbH.
The alternative — entity setup, notary visits, share capital deposit, and cantonal registration — takes months and costs tens of thousands of CHF for a single hire.
Post-Brexit, UK companies expanding into continental Europe often need Swiss-based sales or business development leads to cover the DACH region.
Switzerland sits outside the EU, which means UK companies cannot rely on EU-wide employment frameworks – they need a compliant Swiss employment structure.
WorkMotion’s EOR service in Switzerland gives UK-based SaaS and B2B companies a fast path to a legally employed Swiss sales hire, with payroll in CHF and all statutory contributions handled from day one.
Some WorkMotion clients are not expanding into Switzerland; they are retaining an existing team member who has relocated there.
A developer or product manager who moves to Zurich from Berlin or Amsterdam needs a compliant Swiss employment contract, Swiss payroll, and Swiss social security enrollment.
WorkMotion handles the transition without the client company needing to establish a Swiss entity, keeping the employment relationship intact and legally sound.
Switzerland offers access to some of Europe’s most specialized talent — but hiring there compliantly means navigating cantonal tax rules, a three-pillar social security system, CLA obligations, and Quellensteuer requirements that vary by employee and location.
WorkMotion operates through its own entity in Switzerland, holding all necessary local registrations and licenses to act as the legal employer on your behalf.
Your new hire gets a locally compliant contract, payroll in CHF, and full statutory benefits enrollment — typically within days of signing.
You direct the work; WorkMotion carries the compliance. To find out more, book a demo today.
WorkMotion operates through its own entity in Switzerland, holding all necessary local registrations to act as the legal employer on your behalf.
This means direct compliance accountability — not a third-party intermediary arrangement — covering payroll remittance, social security registrations, and cantonal tax obligations. For companies evaluating EOR service providers in Switzerland, entity ownership matters because it determines who carries the legal exposure when something goes wrong.
Once the employment contract is signed, WorkMotion can complete onboarding in a matter of days — covering contract generation, AHV/AVS registration, BVG pension enrollment, and accident insurance setup before the first payroll run.
The exact timeline depends on the employee’s permit status and canton of residence, since Quellensteuer registration with the cantonal tax authority adds a step for non-C-permit holders.
This compares to weeks or months if you were setting up a Swiss GmbH from scratch, which requires notary involvement, share capital deposit, and commercial register filing before you can employ anyone.
Swiss law strictly prohibits termination during periods of incapacity due to illness or accident, and the protected period varies with the employee’s length of service, ranging from 30 days in the first year to 180 days after six or more years.
This protection applies regardless of whether the illness is work-related, and issuing a termination notice during a protected period renders the notice legally void.
There is no federal statutory requirement for a 13th-month salary in Switzerland, but it is so embedded in Swiss employment practice that most employees expect it — and in certain sectors covered by CLAs, it is contractually mandatory.
Omitting it from an offer letter without understanding the local context can cost you candidates or create disputes after hiring.
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