Chèque service in French Switzerland: only Geneva runs a cantonal one - elsewhere a chèque emploi (EPER, TopRelais...) fills in (2026)

Chèque service or chèque emploi: who offers what in French Switzerland

The chèque service is a scheme subsidised by the canton of Geneva - the only one of its kind. That does not mean there is nothing elsewhere: in the other French-speaking cantons, associations or private companies offer a « chèque emploi » that handles registration and payroll. Only a single, nationwide « chèque emploi » does not exist to date.

In practice: whoever hires a cleaner in Valais, Neuchâtel, Fribourg, the Jura or Vaud uses the canton's chèque emploi provider (which charges a commission), declares to the compensation fund themselves - or lets Clino guide them through it for a flat fee.

The chèque service in French Switzerland - canton by canton

Only Geneva has a canton-subsidised chèque service. In the other cantons an association or a private company offers a chèque emploi - with its own fees, between 5 % and 7 % of the gross wage (table below). Declaring directly to the compensation fund remains possible everywhere.

What the chèque emploi offices actually cost

Until recently this page only said that each office has "its own fees". That is not good enough. We checked the fees on 03.08.2026 at each organisation. One thing to understand before reading the numbers: these are administration fees, paid by the household as the employer and calculated on the employee's gross wage.

So these percentages are neither an hourly rate nor part of the wage. They buy no labour at all: they pay for the paperwork only. And they come on top of the social contributions (AVS/AI/APG, unemployment insurance, family allowances, LAA and, above CHF 22'680, the LPP pension), which remain fully due.

All figures checked on 03.08.2026 directly on each organisation's own website. Clino publishes this comparison.

Two details worth noting: the Geneva chèque service has been run since 2008 by PRO Entreprise Sociale Privée, a private non-profit foundation of public utility. And the Vaud office is called Chèques-emploi, reachable at cheques-emploi.ch - the often-quoted address chequemploi.ch does not exist.

Who stays the employer? You do

In every one of these schemes the household remains the legal employer. The office acts as a fiduciary mandatary under art. 394 CO and never employs the worker itself. Geneva puts it plainly in its own terms: "Aucune relation juridique ne lie CHEQUE SERVICE à l'employé-e." Termination, continued pay during illness, holidays and the reference letter therefore remain your responsibility.

Placement is not part of the deal either. The Vaud office states it explicitly: "Il ne place pas de personnel chez des particuliers." In Geneva, matching runs through a separate free service called Ménage emploi.

And the federal simplified procedure? None of these organisations describes itself as using it. They declare monthly and settle at year end, which is the ordinary pattern. We record that as "not publicly stated" rather than asserting it either way. For context, the 2026 federal benchmark: the simplified procedure is capped at CHF 22'680 gross per employee per year and CHF 60'480 of total payroll, with 6.4 % on each side and a flat 5 % withholding tax.

How to declare in the rest of French Switzerland

If you do not go through a chèque emploi provider, the process is similar in every canton. You declare the employment to the cantonal compensation fund and account for the social contributions through it:

Declaring a cleaner in French Switzerland - step by step

Declare a domestic worker in your canton - full details

What you handle yourself without a chèque emploi provider

Without a cantonal system, as the employer you carry the whole administration:

How Clino replaces the chèque emploi for a flat fee

Across French-speaking Switzerland, Clino does the same job as a chèque service or chèque emploi - but for a flat fee instead of a commission, and goes further:

Which one suits whom? An honest answer

For a household in Geneva, Vaud, Fribourg, Neuchâtel or Valais, the cantonal chèque emploi office is often the simpler and cheaper choice. These offices do not just calculate: they collect the contributions and pay them across to the funds for you. On low wages the caps bite: CHF 70 per month at most in Vaud, CHF 80 in Valais, CHF 120 in Fribourg. For a small workload that can cost less than any subscription.

So there is no universally right answer. In the five cantons that have their own office, the real question is this: is an offer in one language, inside one cantonal border, whose price rises with the wage, enough for you? If it is, take it - it is a good offer.

Frequently Asked Questions