Hiring a personal assistant: contract, wages and insurance with the assistance contribution
With the IV assistance contribution you are the employer yourself. You need a written contract, at least the minimum wage under the NAV, registration with the compensation office and accident insurance. You can start before the decision arrives.
Who may I hire?
Siblings and friends, yes. Partners, parents and children, no.
Minimum wage?
Under the NAV: from CHF 20.35 an hour.
How many hours?
At most 44 hours a week per person, 50 hours as an exception.
Which insurance?
AHV, ALV, FAK and UVG. BVG only above CHF 22'680 a year.
You employ your assistants yourself: with a written contract, at least the NAV minimum wage and no more than 44 hours a week. You register as an employer with the compensation office and insure each person against accidents. The IV pays CHF 35.30 per hour, holidays and all social contributions included. That covers about CHF 30 gross wage per hour.
- You may hire siblings and friends, but not your partner, parents, children or your deputy.
- You can hire before the decision. The IV then pays back to the month you applied.
- If an assistant is ill, the IV reimburses the wage for up to 3 months, on top of your annual amount.
This applies when
You receive or have applied for the IV assistance contribution, for yourself or as a parent or deputy.
When you can start hiring
As soon as you receive an IV helplessness allowance, live at home and have applied for the assistance contribution at the IV office. You do not have to wait for the decision. How the application, the assessment and the decision work is explained in the guide to the assistance contribution.
Hiring before the decision: the risk
Once the decision is in, the IV pays back to the first day of the month in which you applied. The condition: the contracts were in writing and signed, and you were registered as an employer with the compensation office. You only send invoices after the decision. Anything above the amount decided you pay yourself, and if the IV says no, you carry all the wages. The IV office in Vaud only pays back if the wages for that period were already declared and paid.
Six steps to the first invoice
In this order. The steps marked Clino you do in the same account, from the first contract.
Employment contract
With ClinoIn writing and signed by both. The IV provides a model contract (Annex 7 of its circular).
Registration with the compensation office
With ClinoAs an employer, for AHV/IV/EO, ALV and family allowances. The IV needs the confirmation before its first payment.
Accident insurance
For every assistant. Non-occupational accidents from 8 hours a week with you.
Pension fund, if needed
Only for people who earn more than CHF 22'680 a year.
First payslip
With ClinoWith holiday pay, deductions and the day hours and nights for the IV.
First invoice to the IV office
With ClinoForm 318.536 with the record of hours, plus copies of the contracts and the confirmation from the compensation office. You send it yourself, via portal, post or email.
Who you may hire
Any private individual you employ under an employment contract. Only your closest family is excluded, because they already owe you maintenance or support, along with anyone who does not work as a private individual.
Allowed
- Siblings
- Aunts and uncles
- Cousins
- Friends
- People you recruit
Not allowed
- Spouses and registered partners
- Cohabiting partners
- Parents and grandparents
- Children and grandchildren
- Step- and foster parents
- Your legal representative
- Spitex and other organisations
Parliament is debating whether relatives could also be paid through the assistance contribution. Nothing has changed so far.
Minors and people with a deputy
Here the legal representative, meaning the parents or the deputy, signs the contracts in the insured person's name. They may not be an assistant themselves, siblings may. The IV office in Vaud requires the minor to be registered with the compensation office in their own name.
Contract and wages
The IV only recognises a contract that is in writing and signed by both sides. These points belong in it:
- Names and addresses
- Start date
- Tasks
- Wage and all allowances
- Whether holidays are included in the wage
- Working time per week or month
- Hourly or monthly wage
- Confidentiality
- Sick pay
- What happens when you are absent
- Maximum weekly working time
- Social insurance deductions
- Fixed term, if agreed
The easiest way is to use the IV's model contract, or to create the contract in Clino, which fills in the minimum wage for you.
At least the NAV wage
Since 2026 the IV explicitly checks whether the contract meets the minimum wages of the NAV for domestic work, and it rejects contracts below them. They apply from 5 hours a week with the same employer. Cantonal minimum wages, for example in Geneva or Basel-Stadt, can be higher.
CHF 20.35
No training
CHF 22.30
4 years' experience or EBA
CHF 24.55
With EFZ
per hour, without holiday pay
How much wage the contribution covers
In 2026 the IV pays CHF 35.30 per hour. That includes the holiday pay and the contributions of both sides. What is left is about CHF 30 gross wage per hour, from CHF 29.75 (Vaud) to CHF 30.19 (Zurich) depending on the canton. If you pay more, the difference is on you. You do not bill holidays separately, they are already in the rate.
Calculate for your cantonWorking hours: at most 44 hours a week
An assistant works at most 100 %, which is 44 hours a week. In exceptional cases, for example when another assistant is ill, up to 50 hours including overtime are allowed. Only active working time counts, without standby time and breaks. If you need more hours, several assistants share the hours of your decision.
The daily limit of 11 hours that the circular introduced for 2026 was withdrawn again with IV circular no. 458. Daily maximums and rest periods in your canton's NAV still apply, unless your contract departs from them.
What about nights?
The IV does not bill nights by the hour but with a flat rate per night, depending on the level in your decision: from CHF 58.85 (level 1) to CHF 169.10 (level 4). Towards the 44 hours a week, one night counts as 1.67 to 4.79 hours depending on the level.
Social insurance: usually under the simplified procedure
You settle the contributions through the compensation office. The simplified procedure is open to you if each assistant earns at most CHF 22'680 a year and all of them together at most CHF 60'480; all your employees must then be in the same procedure.
AHV/IV/EO and ALV
Half you, half the assistant. The IV rate covers your share.
Family allowances (FAK)
Through the compensation office, at your canton's rate.
Accident insurance (UVG)
For every assistant. Non-occupational accidents from 8 hours a week with you.
Pension fund (BVG)
Only above CHF 22'680 in wages a year with you. You then settle under the ordinary procedure.
Withholding tax
Under the simplified procedure a flat 5 % for everyone. Under the ordinary one only for B, L, F or N permits, at the cantonal rate.
When someone falls ill
Your assistant is ill
You keep paying the wage like any employer. The IV reimburses this sick pay according to the Bern scale, for at most 3 months per year of service, and outside your annual amount. On the invoice this is item 665.05 with supplementary sheet 1, with a doctor's certificate from the 4th day.
- Year 1 of service: 3 weeks
- Year 2: 1 month
- Years 3 and 4: 2 months
- From year 5: 3 months
If you have daily sickness benefits insurance, the IV only reimburses its waiting period.
Fixed-term contracts only trigger sick pay if they are concluded for more than 3 months.
You are in hospital yourself
If you cannot accept the help, for example because of a hospital stay, you still owe the wage. The IV keeps paying it for at most 3 months per event, but within your annual amount and the monthly limit of 150 %: item 665.06 with supplementary sheet 2. This does not apply to foreseeable absences such as holidays or a planned stay; schedule those during your assistants' holidays.
Clino records both items in the month of the absence, prepares Beiblatt 1 and 2 and warns you when the Bern scale entitlement is used up.
Anatomy
What an assistant's payslip looks like
Payslip
Assistant, simplified procedure
You pay holiday pay on every hour. It is already in the IV's CHF 35.30, so you cannot bill holidays separately.
The contributions are the same as for any employee. The IV rate also covers your employer share. Your accident insurer sets the NBU rate.
Under the simplified procedure you deduct a flat 5 % withholding tax for every assistant.
The IV block: this person's day hours and nights in the month. They are the same figures as on the invoice and the record of hours, so the IV office can match them.
What the IV wants to see from you
The IV only pays once the paperwork is right. Each IV office sets the details itself.
Before the first payment
Copies of the signed contracts and confirmation that you are registered as an employer with the compensation office. Without that confirmation the IV pays nothing, not even an advance.
Every month
The invoice (form 318.536) with the record of hours, no later than 12 months after the help was given. Zurich and Vaud also ask for the payslips.
Every year
Proof that the social contributions have been settled with the compensation office. Without it the IV stops paying. You also issue each assistant a salary certificate.
Frequently asked questions
May I employ my sister as my assistant?
Yes. You may hire siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends. Excluded are spouses and partners, direct-line relatives, meaning parents, children, grandparents and grandchildren, as well as step- and foster parents and your legal representative.
Can I hire before the decision has arrived?
Yes. After the decision the IV pays back to the month you applied, if the contracts were in writing and you were registered as an employer. If the IV says no or grants fewer hours, you pay the rest yourself.
What happens if my assistant is ill?
You keep paying the wage. The IV reimburses it according to the Bern scale, for at most 3 months per year of service and outside your annual amount (item 665.05, doctor's certificate from the 4th day). With daily sickness benefits insurance it only reimburses the waiting period.
Do I need a pension fund for my assistants?
Only for a person who earns more than CHF 22'680 a year with you. Below that there is no BVG obligation, and you can use the simplified procedure as long as all wages together come to no more than CHF 60'480.
May an assistant work 50 hours a week?
Only as an exception, for example when another assistant is ill. The rule is at most 44 hours a week, which is 100 %, and only active working time counts.
Who signs the contracts for a minor?
The legal representative, meaning the parents or the deputy, in the child's name. Parents may not be assistants themselves, siblings may. If the child lives with the parents, the IV usually pays 11 instead of 12 monthly amounts a year.
Does the IV also pay for Clino?
No. The CHF 35.30 per hour covers wages, holidays and social contributions. The IV's advice budget of up to CHF 1'500 every 3 years excludes recurring payroll. Clino costs CHF 19.90 a month per household, however many assistants you have.
Does Clino send the invoice to the IV office?
No, you do: via your IV office's portal, by post or by email. Clino prepares the invoice laid out like form 318.536 with the record of hours, plus the payslips some IV offices ask for as well.
Sources
Keep reading
Employer duties in the household: the complete 2026 overview
AHV registration from the first franc, accident insurance, minimum wage, payslips, source tax and BVG: every duty of a private employer in Switzerland, as of 2026.
2026 thresholds: CHF 22'680, 60'480 & the 5%
The three limits for private households: CHF 22'680 per employee (since 1.1.2025, previously 22'050), CHF 60'480 per household and the 5% flat tax. With legal bases.
Continued Pay for Household Staff: Long-Term Path
Your household employee is sick long-term? From the first day of illness to a disability pension: the Bern, Basel and Zurich scales, daily sickness benefit waiting periods, IV early detection after 30 days, protection periods and the path to a partial or full pension.
Household Employment Contract in Switzerland (NAV)
The NAV applies automatically to household staff: minimum wage CHF 20.35/h, 4–5 weeks holiday, notice periods and canton rules + free contract template.
From the first contract, Clino runs the payroll
Clino drafts the contract with the NAV minimum wage, takes care of the registration with the compensation office and every month prepares the payslips and the invoice laid out like form 318.536 with the record of hours, plus the salary certificates at year end. You enter the hours and send the invoice yourself.
CHF 19.90 a month for your household, however many assistants. 30 days free. The IV does not reimburse this cost.
Free Checklist: Hire Household Help Correctly
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Salvador Jovells, founder of Clino