Law

What you keep from interim earnings

Household hours while you are registered with the RAV.

Salvador JovellsUpdated: 4 November 2026Reading time: 8 min

What do you have at the end of the month?

Insured earnings per month

Your average AHV wage over the last 6 or 12 months. The fund can tell you.

Supporting a child under 25 or IV pension from 40 %?

Rate 70 %

Hours in the month, all households

Hourly wage, gross, without holiday pay

Weekdays this month (Mon to Fri)

With the hoursCHF 4'148With no jobCHF 3'548

Wage: CHF 2'000
Fund: CHF 2'148
More than with no job: +CHF 600

Limit: From CHF 3'548 in wages (about 142 hours) the fund pays nothing more this month.

Daily allowances: You use up 13.3 instead of 22.

Holiday pay: 8.33 % on the wage, here CHF 167, comes on top and only counts when you take your holidays.

After 12 months: If you support no child under 25 and are under 45, the compensation ends. You then have CHF 3'548, the same as with no job.

How the fund calculates

CHF 5'000 ÷ 21.7 × 22: CHF 5'069
− Wage: CHF 2'000
= Loss of earnings: CHF 3'069
× 70 % = Fund: CHF 2'148

Starting values: the SECO instruction's example (no. C135) with CHF 5'000, 22 days, 70 % and CHF 2'000 in wages, here as 80 hours at CHF 25. Enter your own figures.

Not included: correction to the customary wage, AHV and other deductions from wage and benefit, source tax, waiting days, suspension days, child allowances, cantonal minimum wages. Your fund's statement decides.

A household offers you hours and you are registered with the RAV. Take them and declare them: the fund pays part of the difference, and you end the month with more than with no job. Not registered yet? Start with unemployment benefit for household workers.

Is it worth it?

Yes. 20 to 30 centimes more per franc earned, plus new contribution time.

Up to how much?

Until your wage equals your money with no job. Above that the fund pays nothing.

For how long?

At most 12 months. If you support a child under 25 or are over 45: to the end of the framework period.

What do you do?

Tell the RAV and the fund. One certificate per household per month.

All amounts gross. Basis: AVIG Art. 24 and the SECO instruction AVIG-Praxis ALE, margin nos. C123 to C137.

Where the fund stops

The fund only tops up while your wage is below what it would pay you with no job (nos. C123, B94). Once you go over, you have no claim that month. The same example with more hours:

HoursWageFundYour month

802'0002'1484'148

1403'5001'0984'598

1423'55003'550

1604'00004'000

With an hourly wage the limit depends on the weekdays: in a month with 20 days it sits here at CHF 3'226 instead of CHF 3'548. Turning down hours just to stay below is no answer: work above the limit counts as financially suitable (nos. B298, B299), and questions 6 and 7 of the certificate ask about it. If it lasts a whole calendar month, your unemployment counts as ended (no. C139). Talk to your fund first.

The certificate, field by field

One «Bescheinigung über Zwischenverdienst» (certificate of interim earnings, form 10018) for each household and each calendar month. The household fills it in, you hand it in. Below is a filled-in sample: 4 hours every Tuesday.

Arbeitslosenversicherung

Bescheinigung über Zwischenverdienst für den Monat

Sample

Monat und Jahr

11.2026

AHV-Nummer

756.••••.••••.••

You go at the top

Your AHV number and your work. One sheet per month, never two months on one.

Angaben zum Arbeitgeber

Name des Arbeitgebers

Familie Muster

AHV-Nummer

756.••••.••••.••

The household's AHV number

A household is a natural person: it enters its own AHV number, and BUR and UID stay empty. This surprises many people, so tell them beforehand.

Gearbeitete Stunden vom 1. bis zum 30./31. dieses Monats, in Dezimalzahlen

A = Ferien, B = Krankheit, Schwangerschaft, C = Unfall, G = Unbezahlte Absenzen

1. Hours per day

An hour and a half is 1.5, not 1:30. It is the hours of this calendar month that count, even if the wage comes later. Absences go in by letter: A holiday, B illness or pregnancy, C accident, G unpaid.

2-5

Wurde ein schriftlicher Arbeitsvertrag unterzeichnet?neinja
Wurde eine wöchentliche Arbeitszeit vereinbart?4 Std. pro Wocheneinja
Wie viel beträgt die wöchentliche Normalarbeitszeit im Betrieb??
Unterliegt das Arbeitsverhältnis einem Gesamtarbeitsvertrag?neinja

2 to 5. Contract and hours

If there is a contract, attach a copy. The NAV Hauswirtschaft is not a collective agreement. For question 4 (normal weekly hours) we found no official guidance for households: leave nothing blank, and ask the fund if unsure.

6-7

Haben Sie in diesem Monat mehr Arbeit angeboten?neinja

6 and 7. More work offered?

Here the fund checks whether you could have worked more. If the household offered more and you said no, it writes down the period and the reason.

8-9

Zusammensetzung des Bruttoeinkommens des aktuellen Monats

Anzahl geleistete Stunden: 16
Grundlohn: 400.00
*Feiertagsentschädigung: 0.00
*Ferienentschädigung 8.33 %: 33.32
Total Bruttolohn: 433.32

8 and 9. The wage, properly split

The most important field. With an hourly wage, public holiday pay (Feiertags-) and holiday pay (Ferienentschädigung) are mandatory. Holiday pay must stand apart, or the fund cannot leave it out. Attach the payslip. Is your payslip right?

Wird das Arbeitsverhältnis weitergeführt?

ja, unbefristetbefristet bisnein

10. Does it continue?

If the job ends: who gave notice, when, for what date and why. Attach a copy of any written notice.

11-14

Beiträge an die berufliche Vorsorge (BVG)?nein
Kinder- und/oder Ausbildungszulagen?nein
Beteiligung der versicherten Person oder des Ehepartners?nein

11 to 14. Usually quick

Pension contributions, child allowances, a stake in the business. With small household jobs this is often three times no, but not always: for allowances, a no needs a reason. Question 14 is only for the self-employed.

Ort, Datum

Zürich, 30.11.2026

Unterschrift

The household's signature

It confirms that everything is correct (AVIG Art. 88, 105, 106). Unanswered questions can delay the payment.

The form exists in German, French and Italian. Since January 2026 the fund no longer accepts old versions, so always take the current one from arbeit.swiss. Download form 10018

Your month on the calendar

Five dates that come back every month. They go to the fund and to the RAV, which are two different offices.

During the month
You
Note the hours per household and day.
20th to 25th
You
The «Angaben der versicherten Person» (insured person's statement) usually arrives by post in these days, or you fill it in through the Job-Room eService. Nothing by the 25th: ask the fund for a duplicate.
End of month
Household, then you
Each household fills in its certificate. You send it to the fund with the payslip and your statement.
By the 5th
You, to the RAV
Proof of your job search, even if you have hours. If the 5th is not a working day, the next working day counts. As a rule there is no extra time.
Next month
Fund
Payment normally comes in the following month. If a certificate is missing, the money waits. If you do not claim within three months of the end of the month, the claim lapses (AVIG Art. 20).

What the household has to do

Your employer must fill in the certificate and answer truthfully (AVIG Art. 88). The law sets no fixed day, only «in good time». With the payslip next to it, it takes minutes, because nearly everything it asks is already there:

their AHV number
the hours per day
base wage and holiday pay, separately
whether the job continues
place, date, signature

If the household uses Clino, Clino produces the monthly payslip with holiday pay shown separately, and questions 8 and 9 can be copied straight over. Clino does not fill in or send the form itself. For you Clino is free.

I am the household: 30 days free

Your situation

Several households

All wages are added together (BGE 127 V 479), and each household fills in its own certificate. What else each household handles is under several employers.

One of several households drops out

You can claim for that part if the loss comes to at least two working days, in full days, within two weeks (AVIV Art. 5). The instruction's example (no. C124): CHF 2'500 and CHF 4'000, the first job ends. Insured earnings are CHF 6'500, and the CHF 4'000 counts as interim earnings.

Irregular hours

The fund calculates month by month, so the payment moves too. What counts is the month you worked, not the month the wage arrives (no. C133).

Holiday pay in the hourly wage

It only counts as earnings when you take the holiday (nos. C149 to C154). Holiday days come off your control-free days: 5 days after every 60 controlled days, notified to the RAV 14 days ahead. How the supplement works: holiday pay on an hourly wage.

Wage below the customary rate

The fund calculates with the wage customary for the job and place (AVIG Art. 24 para. 3) and does not make up your gap. Suppose it uses CHF 25 and you get CHF 18: over 80 hours you are CHF 560 short. The floor in a household is the NAV minimum wage of CHF 20.35 from 5 hours a week, more in some cantons. More under your rights as a cleaner.

The same household again, or the same job for less

Same parties within a year, or after a notice to change the contract: if only the wage is cut, or it is more than 20 % below what the reduced hours would justify, the fund pays nothing (no. C138). Ask first.

A side job you already had

What you earned on top of a full-time job is secondary income: not insured and not interim earnings (nos. C8, C9). Declare it anyway. If you increase it, the new part counts as interim earnings.

Your own clients instead of a job

Self-employment only works temporarily, with little investment, and you keep looking for a job (no. B235). The amount counted is turnover minus materials minus 20 % (question 14). Clear it with the RAV first.

Do you have to take the hours?

As a rule, yes. You must accept any suitable work (AVIG Art. 16), and while the fund compensates, even a low wage is suitable (no. B300). You may refuse if, for example, the terms are not customary for the sector and place, your health suffers, the journey is over two hours each way or you would be permanently on call. If you refuse without a reason or give up hours, you risk suspension days, but calculated only on the difference (nos. D67, D68).

Declare every hour

Tell the RAV and the fund early that you are working, and declare everything each month. Hiding it counts even if not one franc too many was paid in the end (no. D38). The law provides for up to 60 suspension days per reason, repayment and, in serious cases, a penalty (AVIG Art. 30, 95, 105, 106). A declared job, by contrast, brings you more money and new contribution time.

For later

Waiting days

Once per framework period. They are cleared by value, also with interim earnings, and so take longer (no. C109).

Insured earnings per monthSupporting a child under 25Without

up to CHF 3'0000 days0 days

up to CHF 5'0000 days5 days

up to CHF 7'5005 days10 days

up to CHF 10'4165 days15 days

from CHF 10'4175 days20 days

Daily allowances and framework period

A reduced payment uses up only its value in daily allowances (no. D65), in the example 13.3 instead of 22. The framework period of 2 years does not get longer: whatever is left at the end lapses.

Child allowances

From CHF 630 of income a month, also added across several jobs, you claim the allowance through the employer. Below that the supplement runs through the fund (no. C82c). If it moves around the limit, ask the fund.

What is certain and what is not

Law: compensation, 70 or 80 %, 12 months, customary wage (AVIG Art. 22, 24). The same in every canton.
SECO instruction: the calculation with 21.7 days, the limit, holiday pay, the daily allowances. It binds the funds; a court can decide otherwise.
Different by canton: minimum wages and what counts as customary locally.
Open: that the transition-band rate between CHF 3'797 and CHF 4'340 also applies to the compensation is our reading. The law names the first 12 months of a gainful activity (AVIG Art. 24 para. 4). How that runs with several jobs that started at different times, we did not find stated clearly. Ask your fund.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to report the job before I start?

Tell the RAV and the fund as early as you can, at the latest with your monthly statement. The start of a job also calls for a copy of the employment contract, if there is one.

Do I have to keep applying for jobs?

Yes. You stay registered as unemployed and keep handing in your proof every month. You must also be able to give up the job if a suitable position comes along, within the notice period (nos. B234, B317).

The household does not fill in the certificate. What now?

Hand in your statement and the payslip on time anyway and tell the fund which certificate is missing. The household is obliged to give the information (AVIG Art. 88). That part of the money waits until everything is in. If needed the fund sets you a deadline and, as an exception, can take a signed statement from you into account if it is credible (AVIV Art. 29). You must make the claim within three months of the end of the month.

My household never registered me. What then?

Declare the hours anyway. The certificate asks for the wage subject to AHV, and the household signs it. Send them the ready-made message to your employer: registering is their duty and a gain for you. You can see whether your contributions arrive in your AHV account statement.

Do interim earnings count towards a new claim?

Yes, as contribution time: every full calendar month counts, part-time too, and parallel jobs only once (AVIV Art. 11). Your next insured earnings can turn out lower as a result, unless you reach the minimum contribution time with suitable wages alone (nos. C43, C44).

Does the fund deduct anything else?

Yes. AHV/IV/EO, the BVG risk contribution and two thirds of the non-occupational accident premium come off the benefit (AVIG Art. 22a), and source tax depending on your permit. The usual deductions come off the wage. That is why the calculator shows gross.

Your household is not registered yet?

The certificate asks for the wage subject to AHV and requires the payslip. Send them the ready-made message. It costs you nothing and you need no account.

Message for my employer

Sources

Checked on 4 November 2026. General information. Your unemployment fund's decision is what binds.

Learn more

Unemployment Benefits as a Domestic WorkerRead article

Cleaner With Several Employers: Registering AHV and UVG CorrectlyRead article

Is your payslip correct? Every line explainedRead article

Holiday Pay on Hourly Wages: 8.33% or 10.64%?Read article