Many families in Geneva find a cleaner or nanny through word of mouth and agree on an hourly rate. The part that is easier to miss is what follows: when you hire someone directly to work in your home, you generally become their employer. This guide explains the main duties, costs and official steps using 2026 figures.
Quick answer
If you hire someone directly to work in your Geneva home, you are usually their employer, even if they work only a few hours each week. You may need to meet a minimum wage, register the employment, arrange insurance and keep payroll records. The exact rules depend on the worker’s status and the arrangement.
1. Are you an employer? Yes, from the first franc
In a private household, social insurance (AVS) is due from the very first franc of wages. There is no minimum number of hours and no threshold. A cleaner who comes for three hours a week is your employee, and so is a nanny who comes two afternoons a week. If she works for several families, each family is a separate employer and declares her separately.
A narrow exception applies to domestic-work wages below CHF 750 a year per private household for a young person under 26; the employee may ask to be insured. Some arrangements follow different rules, including au-pair roles, professional nursing and childcare outside the family. Confirm the applicable regime if you use an agency or the worker is genuinely self-employed.
2. Contract and minimum wage in Geneva
Geneva has a standard employment contract for domestic work, the CTT-EDom (contrat-type de travail de l’économie domestique). It covers direct household employment such as cleaning, cooking, ironing and caring for children or adults. It does not cover every care or childcare arrangement: au pairs, professional nursing and some childcare roles follow separate rules.
Minimum wages for 2026 (gross, per hour):
| Employee | Minimum per hour |
|---|---|
| No qualification | CHF 24.59 |
| AFP or 4 years’ experience | CHF 24.85 |
| CFC (federal certificate) | CHF 25.11 |
CHF 24.59 was also Geneva’s general minimum wage in 2026. The applicable floor depends on the worker’s qualifications and the rules in force on the date the work is done; you cannot agree to pay below the legal minimum.
Holiday pay comes on top. Your employee is entitled to 4 weeks of paid holiday a year (5 weeks under age 20). For someone paid by the hour, this is usually paid as a supplement of 8.33% on every payslip (10.64% for 5 weeks). So the real minimum for an hourly cleaner is CHF 24.59 plus 8.33%. The CTT-EDom lists nine public holidays. Monthly-paid staff do not lose salary for those days; for hourly-paid staff, the contract expressly protects pay for 1 August. It does not make all nine days paid for hourly work.
Other rules worth knowing:
- Full time in Geneva is 45 hours a week. A part-time working day may not exceed 8 hours.
- Probation is the first month, with 7 days’ notice. After that, notice is 1 month in the first year, 2 months from the 2nd to the 9th year, then 3 months, always for the end of a month.
- A written contract is not compulsory, but you must give the key terms in writing (hours, wage, start date) within one month. In practice, put everything in writing from day one.
- Wages are paid by the end of the month, with a detailed payslip every month.
- Au pairs have a separate Geneva standard contract (CTT-TPMaj). Check its current terms rather than applying the CTT-EDom figures to them.
3. Register with the AVS office: OCAS or Chèque service
In Geneva, household employers register with OCAS (Office cantonal des assurances sociales), within 30 days of the first working day. You can do it online or on paper. You have two routes.
The simplified procedure (procédure de décompte simplifiée, “LTN”). Designed for small household jobs. You can use it if each employee earns no more than CHF 22’680 a year and your total annual wage bill does not exceed CHF 60’480. OCAS invoices once a year, and a flat 5% source tax is withheld for every employee, whatever their nationality or permit. The wage declaration is due by 30 January of the following year. The “LTN+” variant can include accident insurance through OCAS’s partner insurer.
Check the registration timing. OCAS says households wishing to use the simplified procedure must apply in advance during the current year for the following year. Register household employment with OCAS within 30 days of the first working day, and confirm with OCAS whether LTN is available for the year you are starting.
The ordinary procedure. If you do not meet either LTN limit, you use the ordinary procedure. That can be because an employee earns more than CHF 22’680 a year or because your total payroll exceeds CHF 60’480. Contributions are invoiced in instalments, and you handle source tax and the pension fund separately (see below).
Chèque service is an alternative the canton points households to. It handles registration, social contributions and insurance administration, but you remain the legal employer. Its published 2026 administration rates are 5.98% of gross wages for contracts under 8 hours a week and 5.48% from 8 hours; an additional CHF 50 fee applies for source-tax administration. Check its current tariff and calculator for the exact total.
4. Insurance: accident and sick pay
Accident insurance (LAA) is compulsory for every employee, even for one hour a week. Work accidents are always covered and paid by you. If she works 8 hours a week or more for you, she must also be covered for accidents outside work; that premium can be deducted from her wage. If you have no policy, she is still covered, but you will be billed the back premiums, up to double if the omission was deliberate. You choose the insurer, or take the LTN+ option with OCAS.
Sick-pay insurance (perte de gain maladie) is required in Geneva since 2022. The CTT-EDom sets the cover at 80% of the wage for 720 days within 900 days, with premiums split half and half. According to ge.ch, you may waive it by written agreement with the employee, but then you must keep paying wages during illness yourself for a limited period. Insuring is usually the safer choice.
Pension fund (LPP). Once an employee earns more than CHF 22’680 a year with you, she must be insured in a pension fund, and you pay at least half of the contributions. This usually concerns nannies, rarely cleaners.
Geneva maternity insurance (AMat). A small Geneva contribution of 0.029% each side, collected with the AVS.
5. Source tax and permits
Source tax. Under the simplified procedure it is simple: 5% flat, withheld for everyone and paid through OCAS. It is final. Under the ordinary procedure, source tax applies to foreign employees without a C permit (and to minors). You must register with the cantonal tax administration (AFC) as the payer, announce the employee within 8 days and pay the tax monthly using the Geneva rates. Adult Swiss citizens and C permit holders are not taxed at source.
Permits. Before the first day, check that your employee has the right to work in Switzerland. If she does not, the cantonal population office (OCPM) explains the procedure. Declaring someone to the AVS does not make the job legal under immigration rules, and not declaring them does not make it safer.
If you hold a legitimation card from the Swiss foreign ministry (FDFA), for example as a diplomat or international civil servant, and employ a private household employee under the federal ordinance on private household employees (ODPr), different rules apply. Check with the Swiss Mission in Geneva.
6. Real cost: two examples
These examples, provided by Clino, use rounded 2026 figures. Accident, sick-pay and administration charges vary by insurer and procedure; treat the totals as illustrations and request a quote for your situation.
Example A: a cleaner, 4 hours a week at the Geneva minimum (simplified procedure)
| CHF per year | |
|---|---|
| Wages: 4 h x 48 weeks x CHF 24.59 | 4’721 |
| Holiday pay (8.33%) | 393 |
| Gross wage | 5’115 |
| AVS/AI/APG (5.3%) | 271 |
| Unemployment insurance AC (1.1%) | 56 |
| Family allowances, small-childhood and training funds (2.372%) | 121 |
| Geneva maternity insurance (0.029%) | 1 |
| OCAS administration fee | 14 |
| Accident insurance, work accidents (about 0.5%) | 26 |
| Sick-pay insurance, your half (assuming a CHF 300 minimum premium) | 150 |
| Your employer charges | 639 |
| Total yearly cost | 5’754 |
That is about CHF 480 a month, or roughly CHF 30 per hour actually worked. From her gross wage, about CHF 734 is deducted (her share of AVS, AC and AMat, half the sick-pay premium and the 5% source tax), so she receives about CHF 4’381 a year. Because she works under 8 hours a week, she should make sure her own health insurance covers accidents.
Example B: a nanny, 25 hours a week at CHF 28 an hour (ordinary procedure)
CHF 28 is an example. For an unqualified employee, the 2026 minimum is CHF 24.59; a qualified worker may have a higher floor. She is paid a monthly salary of CHF 3’033, with her holidays paid. She is 30.
| CHF per year | |
|---|---|
| Gross wage (25 h x 52 weeks x CHF 28) | 36’400 |
| AVS/AI/APG (5.3%) | 1’929 |
| Unemployment insurance AC (1.1%) | 400 |
| Family allowances, small-childhood and training funds (2.372%) | 863 |
| Geneva maternity insurance (0.029%) | 11 |
| OCAS administration fee | 101 |
| Accident insurance, work accidents (about 0.5%) | 184 |
| Sick-pay insurance, your half (about 2.4% in total) | 437 |
| Pension fund LPP, your half (7% savings credit, age 25 to 34) | 348 |
| Your employer charges | 4’273 |
| Total yearly cost | 40’673 |
This illustration uses one assumed insurer premium. Chèque service publishes its own 2026 rates and calculator; premiums from other insurers can differ.
That is about CHF 3’390 a month. Because she earns more than CHF 22’680, the simplified procedure is not available, and the pension fund becomes compulsory. Pension funds add small risk and admin premiums on top of the savings credit. Source tax, if she has a B, L or G permit, is deducted from her wage and does not change your cost.
Rule of thumb: count roughly 12% on top of the gross wage for a declared employee in Geneva, plus holiday pay if she is paid by the hour.
7. Common mistakes
- “It’s only a few hours, it doesn’t count.” It does, from the first franc.
- Paying CHF 24.59 an hour with no holiday pay. For hourly staff, the 8.33% comes on top.
- No accident insurance. It is compulsory for every employee, from the first hour.
- Forgetting sick-pay insurance. Geneva requires it, unless waived in writing.
- Exceeding the simplified-procedure or pension threshold. Check with OCAS if an employee’s annual wage or the household’s total payroll approaches the applicable limit; do not assume which procedure will apply mid-year.
- Taking your share out of her wage. Your employer contributions are your cost. Only her own share may be deducted.
- Registering late. The deadline is 30 days. If you have employed someone without declaring them, contact OCAS promptly to regularise; unpaid contributions and interest may be due.
- Cash with no payslip. A monthly payslip protects both sides, and she needs it for her permit, her flat and her bank.
8. Checklist
- Agree the wage at or above the CTT-EDom minimum (CHF 24.59 an hour, more for qualified staff)
- Put hours, wage, holidays and start date in writing
- Check her work permit before day one
- Register with OCAS within 30 days, or sign up with Chèque service. If you want the simplified procedure, confirm its advance-registration timing with OCAS.
- Take out accident insurance (LAA)
- Take out sick-pay insurance (perte de gain maladie)
- Above CHF 22’680 a year: join a pension fund (LPP) and register for source tax with the AFC if needed
- Keep a record of working hours and rest days; provide the required payslip and pay by the end of the month
- Declare the year’s wages by 30 January and give her a salary certificate
Official sources and useful tools
- Geneva, employing household staff: conditions and obligations
- Geneva minimum wage: current rates and the 2027 increase announced by the Council of State
- CTT-EDom, full text: silgeneve.ch (rsGE J 1 50.03)
- OCAS, household employers: registration and contribution guidance
- OCAS, household employer procedures: simplified and ordinary procedures
- OCAS, annual wage declaration: deadline and procedure
- Chèque service: 2026 contribution and fee sheet and cost calculator
- Source tax for household staff: ge.ch, déclarer son personnel de maison aux impôts
- Hiring staff from abroad (OCPM): ge.ch
- Federal AVS leaflet 2.06, household employees (English): ahv-iv.ch
General information based on 2026 rules, not legal advice. The Geneva CTT-EDom rates shown here are valid through 31 December 2026; the general minimum wage is scheduled to become CHF 24.73 an hour from 1 January 2027. Check the official sources before hiring or setting a new wage.
Written by Clino for English-Friendly Geneva, October 2026.