Hire a butler and you become an employer

What butlers and household staff earn in Switzerland

We found no official wage statistic for these jobs. The published figures come from salary sites and agencies, and they are far apart. That is why they appear here with their source.

So set the wage by the duties, presence and languages, and by whether board and lodging are included. There are separate pages for the private chef and the gardener.

Which minimum wage applies

The federal NAV covers household work: cleaning, laundry, shopping, cooking and helping with care (Art. 3). Chauffeurs and gardeners are not on that list. Geneva has its own standard contract and names butlers, housekeepers, cooks, valets, chauffeurs and gardeners expressly. If in doubt, ask the cantonal labour office. The amounts are in our overview of the household NAV.

What the job costs the household

Calculated with the same payroll engine that produces Clino payslips: canton of Zurich, aged 45, C permit, 12 monthly salaries, as of 2026.

Sick-pay insurance is not included, as the premium depends on the offer. In Geneva, the job at CHF 8,000 costs about CHF 9,268 a month, mainly because of higher family allowances.

The mandatory pension stops growing above an annual wage of CHF 90,720, which is why the add-on falls at high wages. If the person lives with you, board and lodging count towards the AHV wage at CHF 990 a month. Housing, a car, clothing and expenses come on top, depending on the household.

Working hours: where the big bills come from

One job profile from the industry calls 12-14 hours, seven days a week, not unusual. The Labour Act does not stand in the way, since it does not apply to private households (Art. 2 para. 1 let. g ArG). But the wage does not automatically cover such weeks: the cantonal standard contract sets a regular week, and the Code of Obligations requires overtime to be compensated (Art. 321c CO).

Geneva is the most precise: 45 hours a week, one rest day, at least twice a month a Sunday, plus a free half working day each week. Sunday work earns a 50 % supplement or 50 % more time off. On-call duty between 20:00 and 07:00 counts at 60 %, 80 % or 125 % of the minimum wage, depending on the call-outs.

What to settle in practice

1. Put hours, presence and days off in the contract. In one Vaud case the contract was silent on this, and the court set the hours from witnesses.
2. Record the hours. In the rulings that mention it, the household had recorded them in 1 of 47 cases.
3. Settle overtime in writing. Including it in the wage only works in writing (Art. 321c para. 3 CO), and it is fair only if the wage visibly covers the hours.
4. Really grant the rest days. Giving them only when asked and then dismissing the person risks compensation for abusive dismissal.

What courts have awarded household staff

Clino read 382 published Swiss rulings. In 126 of 141 disputes the household had to pay, CHF 38,467 gross at the median. These are the cases with butlers, cooks, chauffeurs and caretakers. The full analysis is in our study of domestic workers in court.

• Cook and butler at an ambassador’s residence; the legal employer was the State

  CHF 551,943

  Federal Supreme Court (Geneva case), 2025

  Dismissed after asking for the recommended Geneva wage. Years of overtime and Sunday work had to be paid.

• Valet and housekeeper (a couple)

  CHF 345,821

  Federal Supreme Court (Geneva case), 2000

  Pay far below the Geneva standard contract, board and lodging left out of the overtime rate, and finally driven straight to the airport.

• Cook and valet, living in the home of an elderly couple

  CHF 89,188

  Vaud, Cantonal Court, 2012

  The contract said nothing about hours and the household recorded none. The court counted about CHF 41 per overtime hour.

• Chauffeur of a wealthy employer

  CHF 57,033

  Vaud, Cantonal Court, 2014

  After a heated argument he handed back the car keys. The court found this was no resignation, as he brought a doctor's note the next day.

• Caretaker and gardener, living on the estate

  CHF 36,250

  Federal Supreme Court, 2018 (Geneva case)

  Dismissed after his wife asked for one free Sunday a month. The court refused the overtime, but the compensation for the dismissal stood.

• Gardener and caretaker, living on the estate

  CHF 16,210

  Ticino, Court of Appeal, 2011

  Dismissed after claiming uncompensated rest days and on-call time. The court treated the dismissal as retaliation.

Not every claim wins

In 2017 the Geneva cantonal court rejected the overtime claim of a cook, butler and driver who alleged about 13.5 hours a day and lived in the same building. As a rule, whoever claims overtime has to prove it. Clean records therefore protect both sides.

Who is the employer: household, company or agency?

Anyone who regularly places or leases staff for a fee needs a licence. Check it in SECO's directory (VZAVG). The household usually pays the fee. One published example is a fixed price of CHF 12,000 plus VAT for a full-time job.

The duties, in order

1. 1

   Compensation office. Register as an employer in your canton of residence. Above CHF 22,680 in annual wages per person, the ordinary procedure applies: the procedures compared.

2. 2

   Accident insurance. Occupational and non-occupational, before the first working day. How to take out UVG cover.

3. 3

   Pension fund. Above CHF 22,680 in annual wages, joining one is mandatory. A household can join a collective foundation: the funds compared.

4. 4

   Permit. Hiring household staff from third countries is hardly possible. One of the few exceptions is long-serving staff who move to Switzerland with the family. Permits at a glance.

5. 5

   Withholding tax. For foreign staff without a C permit, you deduct it from the wage and pay it to the canton: how withholding tax works.

6. 6

   Illness. Geneva has required sick-pay insurance since 2022, other cantons set sick pay in their NAV: what applies during illness.

7. 7

   Salary statement and annual return. A payslip every month, and at year end the salary statement and the wage return to the compensation office.

Three special cases

• Two homes, say Zurich and Gstaad: Which canton applies when your staff work in two cantons.
• Staff who travel: holidays abroad raise the same questions as travelling with your nanny.
• Diplomatic households: a separate federal ordinance applies, see our study on diplomats' household staff.

Discretion, keys, background

The duty of confidentiality already applies by law, and after the job ends to the extent needed to protect your legitimate interests (Art. 321a para. 4 CO). A separate agreement spells out what is meant: guests, assets, children, photos, social media.

You may only ask what the job requires (Art. 328b CO). Where keys, cash or children are involved, an ordinary criminal record extract is an obvious step. Whether a household can also require the special private extract is not confirmed, and the Federal Office of Justice is still clarifying it. Have keys and alarm codes signed for.

Fiduciary or Clino?

Many households with staff have a fiduciary, and that is often right: with a company as the employer, for international tax questions or with bonus schemes.

If you employ one or a few people directly, you can do it yourself with Clino: contract, AHV registration, payslips with pension fund, withholding tax and board and lodging, salary statement. You join the pension fund once yourself and we guide you through it. Clino does not place staff.