Cleaner hourly wage 2026: usually CHF 27-35, the legal minimum is CHF 20.35

The usual rate is CHF 27 to 35 gross an hour, depending on the canton; the Swiss average is CHF 33 (quitt, Schweizer Haushaltshilfen-Report 2026, 2025 data). Households pay most in Nidwalden (CHF 35) and least in Ticino (CHF 27). The legal minimum for a cleaner employed by a private household is CHF 20.35 from 5 hours a week, CHF 24.59 in Geneva. Net, she keeps 93.6 % after AHV/IV/EO and ALV: CHF 30.89 of CHF 33. From 8 hours a week the NBU also comes off.

From 5 hours a week with the same household, the NAV for domestic work sets at least CHF 20.35 an hour, CHF 22.30 with 4 years' experience or an EBA and CHF 24.55 with an EFZ. The cantonal minimum is higher in GE, NE, from the first hour, and the city of Lucerne has CHF 22.75. In Basel-Stadt and Jura the NAV takes precedence from 5 hours (CHF 22.20 and 21.40 below that); Ticino's minimum is lower than the NAV.

Geneva, at CHF 24.59 an hour. It applies to every sector from the first hour and is adjusted for inflation every year. The usual wage in Geneva averages CHF 28 an hour.

The NAV applies from an average of 5 hours a week with the same household (Art. 2 NAV), then per hour, whatever the workload. Below that it does not bind. Cantonal and municipal minimum wages (GE, NE, BS, JU, TI, city of Lucerne) apply from the first hour. In Vaud, a cantonal standard contract sets at least CHF 19.95 below 5 hours, unless you agree otherwise in writing. Elsewhere, below 5 hours the wage is negotiable and the NAV stays the fair benchmark. In a private household AHV/IV/EO and ALV contributions are owed in principle from the first franc, non-occupational accident insurance from 8 hours a week.

In the canton of Zurich the usual wage is CHF 34/h gross and a fair one CHF 32-37; in the city it tends to sit at the top end. The legal minimum depends on exactly where you live, and that is where most people get it wrong. The city of Zurich decided on a municipal minimum wage of CHF 23.90/h in 2023, and Winterthur CHF 23.00/h; the Federal Supreme Court confirmed on 12 May 2026 that both are valid. Neither is in force yet: bringing them into force is the cities' own step and no date has been published. Until then the NAV Hauswirtschaft applies across the whole canton of Zurich: CHF 20.35/h (unskilled), CHF 22.30/h (4+ years of experience or EBA) or CHF 24.55/h (with an EFZ). What counts is the place of work, i.e. your address as the employer, not where your employee lives.

If you employ the cleaner directly in your own home, the NAV Hauswirtschaft applies from 5 hours a week (from CHF 20.35/h; Geneva has its own minimum wage of CHF 24.59/h instead). If you book a cleaning company whose staff come to you, their collective agreement applies (in German-speaking Switzerland from CHF 21.40/h maintenance, CHF 23.40/h special; French-speaking Switzerland and Ticino have their own minimums). What matters is who the employer is, not the activity itself. What you call the job (cleaner, cleaning lady, domestic helper) makes no difference to this.

Yes. As soon as you pay wages for domestic work you are an employer and must register the person with the cantonal compensation fund. There is no minimum threshold for domestic work, contributions are due from the first franc (exceptions: young people up to the year they turn 17, and wages of up to CHF 750 a year per employer paid to people up to the year they turn 25). For low wages there is the simplified accounting procedure. Without registration, the work counts as undeclared.