AHV/AVS for side jobs and household work: the 2026 rules

In general, a private household that pays someone for household work – such as cleaning, babysitting, gardening, homework help or helping older people – is their employer and must settle AHV/IV/EO contributions from the first franc. This also applies if you pay in kind, for example with board and lodging.

AHV/IV/EO stands for old-age and survivors', disability and income-compensation insurance. As the employer, you register with the cantonal compensation office (Ausgleichskasse, caisse de compensation) where your household is located and give each employee's AHV number, name and date of birth. Failing to report staff can be a criminal offence.

Paid household work is an employment contract under the Swiss Code of Obligations, written or not, with at least four weeks' paid holiday (a supplement of 8.33% on an hourly wage). According to the AHV leaflet on household work, it covers, among others:

• cleaners, household help and au pairs;
• babysitters, childcare and homework help;
• looking after older people;
• helpers in or around the house – for example a neighbour you pay to do the garden.
• Not included: work outside the flats in residential buildings, and work in commercial buildings, such as caretaker (Hauswart) work.

Outside private households, AHV contributions on wages up to CHF 2'500 per year and per employer are in general levied only if the insured person asks for it. There are exceptions, for example in the culture and media sector. The limit applies per employer, and it has been CHF 2'500 since 1 January 2025 – older articles still quote CHF 2'300.

The CHF 2'500 per year and per employer limit does not apply to work in private households. Exception: young people up to 31 December of the year they turn 25, if they earn no more than CHF 750 a year from that household. In 2026, that means:

AHV/IV/EO contributions total 10.6% of the wage: 5.3% paid by the employer and 5.3% deducted from the employee's pay. Unemployment insurance (ALV) adds 1.1% on each side. Family-allowance and administrative costs vary by office and are paid by the employer. If you have an au pair or a live-in helper, board and lodging count as wages in kind: CHF 33 a day for full board and lodging.

For small jobs, employers can use the voluntary simplified settlement procedure: one annual settlement with the compensation office, covering AHV/IV/EO/ALV contributions and a 5% withholding tax. In 2026 it is available for wages up to CHF 22'680 per person and a total payroll up to CHF 60'480.

Contributions are then 6.4% each for employer and employee. All wages must be settled this way. The procedure is not open to companies (AG, GmbH) or cooperatives, and it cannot be used for the employer's spouse or children; some cross-border workers are excluded too. With VAvplus, households can also settle the mandatory accident insurance through their compensation office.

In several French-speaking cantons, services such as Chèque service (Geneva) or Chèques-emploi (Vaud) handle the paperwork for household employers for a fee. In Ticino, PrAmAsSa, a private office, offers similar help. Check each service's scope and fees directly – or register yourself with the cantonal compensation office, which you can do anywhere in Switzerland.

Households must insure their staff against accidents with an approved insurer (not Suva). From 8 hours per week with the same employer, non-occupational accidents are covered too. Below 8 hours, only occupational accidents and diseases are covered, and accidents on the way to work count as occupational.

The employer pays the occupational-accident premium and may deduct the non-occupational premium from the wage; insurers offer annual flat-rate premiums for occasional work. Not insuring your staff is punishable. No premium is collected for young people up to 31 December of the year they turn 25 who earn no more than CHF 750 a year from you. But if such a helper has an accident, the substitute fund (Ersatzkasse UVG) charges you a replacement premium, going back up to five years.

Whether someone counts as self-employed or employed for AHV is decided by the compensation office case by case, based on the actual circumstances, not on the contract. Babysitting in the parents' home counts as employment.

Self-employed means working under your own name, for your own account and at your own economic risk. Self-employed people pay 10.0% AHV/IV/EO, with a minimum contribution of CHF 530, and have no unemployment insurance and no compulsory accident insurance. For a self-employed side activity earning no more than CHF 2'500 a year, contributions are levied only on request.

People who keep working after reference age still pay AHV/IV/EO contributions, but no unemployment insurance. In general, CHF 16'800 per year and per employer (CHF 1'400 per month) stays contribution-free. People who draw their old-age pension early do not get this allowance. The allowance also applies to household work; our guide for retirees and students has more detail.

Income from side jobs is taxable and in general must be declared in your tax return. There is no minimum amount: a salary certificate (Lohnausweis) is required for every wage. Wages settled through the simplified procedure are already taxed by the 5% withholding tax.

For the direct federal tax, the costs of an employed side job are covered by a flat deduction of 20% of the net side income, at least CHF 800 and at most CHF 2'400 a year. Cantonal rules may differ.

On Workpop you post your job for free, choose who helps you and can record what you agreed in a digital contract. That contract does not replace the steps described here, and Workpop does not handle AHV, accident insurance or tax for you. Check your obligations with your cantonal AHV compensation office.