Childcare · Law
Nanny overtime: what evenings and nights cost
What do the extra hours cost?
CHF 300for 8 extra hours a month: CHF 240 wage plus CHF 60 supplement (+25 % under Art. 321c OR, unless the contract or NAV says otherwise). Or 8 hours off, if she agrees.
30 days free, then CHF 19.90/month · cancel anytime
Evenings, nights, Sunday: in the week plan ↓
A parents' evening, dinner with friends, a night with the baby monitor: when the nanny stays longer, she is working. Under the Code of Obligations every hour beyond the contract costs her wage plus 25 %, or the same time off if she agrees. Your canton's NAV can say otherwise: Zurich drops the supplement for part-timers, and some cantons ask for more at night and on Sundays. The calculator shows your amount, the week plan your canton.
What counts as working time
The Labour Act does not apply to private households. Working time, rest and overtime come from your canton's standard employment contract (NAV) and the Code of Obligations. The rule of thumb: time in which she has to be there for you is working time.
Parents' evening, dinner, a wedding
She stays because you need her. Every hour beyond the contract is work you pay for.
The children are asleep, she stays in the house
If she may not leave, she is working. Being on call in the house counts as normal working time unless the contract or the NAV says otherwise.
The night with the baby monitor
On call as well. Some NAV say expressly how it is paid, such as Geneva, Valais, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Schwyz and Nidwalden; otherwise your contract does.
Driving, doctor's visits, shopping for the family
Working time, in the car and in the waiting room too.
Holidays with the family
If you take her on holiday with you, the same rules apply: what she works or spends on call there is working time.
Does she have to stay when you ask? She must work overtime when it is needed, she is able to and it can reasonably be asked of her (Art. 321c para. 1 OR). Her own child, a course, a second job: those are good reasons for a no. Ask early, not at 17:55.
Your week: what the extra hours cost
Pick the canton and the hourly wage, then tap what comes on top this week. The plan uses the supplements of your canton's NAV, with nights and Sundays shown separately.
Family planner
Week of 19 to 25 October 2026
Contract: 40 h a week, Mon–Fri 8:00–17:00
- Contract
- Overtime
- Sunday
What comes on top this week?
- Beyond the contract
- 8 h
- Wage for these hours
- CHF 240
- Overtime supplement +25 %
- CHF 60
Or, if she agrees, 8 h off instead of wage and overtime supplement, by 23.01.2027 (3 months as in the Clino contract; the OR says «reasonable»).
Zurich: the NAV drops the supplement for part-time staff (Art. 23 and 24 para. 2) and pays it for full-time staff only above 43 hours (Art. 5 para. 4). Work should as a rule end at 19:30 (Art. 5 para. 3). The plan uses +25 % from the first hour beyond the contract, as the Clino contract with supplement puts it in writing.At 40 hours she is part-time there. If the contract has no supplement, the NAV requires none: at least CHF 240 for this week.
Rates: NAV ZH and Art. 321c OR
The plan pays the supplement from the first hour beyond the contract, as Art. 321c OR does. Some NAV start it later or drop it for part-timers; for those cantons the plan shows a note. The plan adds night and overtime supplements together, as Clino does; most NAV say nothing about it. Paying from the first hour keeps you on the safe side everywhere.
Does the contract say overtime is «included in the salary»? In writing that is allowed in principle, verbally it is not (Art. 321c para. 3 OR). It is only fair if the salary visibly covers the extra hours. How to settle evenings cleanly is in the nanny contract clauses.
Which hourly wage is fair is in «What a nanny earns». What a full week looks like, in «Hiring a full-time nanny».
The night with the baby monitor
If she sleeps at your place so you can go out or sleep through, she is on call. Where the NAV says nothing, the Federal Supreme Court counts being on call at the employer's place as working time, paid like normal work unless something else is agreed (BGE 124 III 249). A lower rate for the hours she sleeps is therefore possible, but only if it is agreed. Write it down: otherwise it cannot be proved, and departing from the NAV takes writing.
22:00–07:00
On call · 9 h
CHF 270.00per night
CHF 1'080 a month for 4 nights
Without an agreement and without a rule in the NAV: 9 h at her hourly wage of CHF 30.00 (BGE 124 III 249).
A lower rate only applies if you agree it, best in writing. On the Appenzell Ausserrhoden yardstick (Rare call-outs) it would be CHF 67.50 a night, each time she gets up at the full wage.
Yardstick: BGE 124 III 249
Where the canton rules it for nannies too
Geneva
Night watch between 20:00 and 07:00: at least 60 % of the minimum wage an hour, 80 % with one call-out, 125 % with several. Mandatory until 31.12.2026 (Geneva standard contract, art. 10 paras. 1bis, 7 and 8).
Valais
CHF 5 an hour on call, shown separately on the payslip. Every call-out is working time at the full wage (Valais standard contract, art. 8 para. 5).
Appenzell Ausserrhoden
Being on call is not working time (Art. 5 para. 1) but it is paid: 25, 35 or 50 % of the hourly wage by call-outs a month, at least CHF 5, 7 or 10 an hour. Call-outs in full, with supplements (Art. 15).
Everywhere else · Your canton: Zurich
Whatever you agree applies, best in writing. Without an agreement and without a rule in the NAV, the night in your home counts as normal working time (BGE 124 III 249). Schwyz, Nidwalden, Glarus, Graubünden and Appenzell Innerrhoden rule on being on call for staff who mainly do housework.
Write the rate per night into the contract before the first night. And be honest about it: someone who gets up several times every night is doing night work, not quiet on-call time. Then a higher rate or a free morning is fair.
Time off instead of money, but no hour bank
Instead of paying, you can make up overtime with time off of at least the same length, if she agrees (Art. 321c para. 2 OR). The law says «within a reasonable time»; several cantons set a fixed period. The week plan shows yours.
It does not work the other way round: she does not have to work off paid hours you did not need (Art. 324 OR). The Swiss Nanny Association calls this «banking» of hours simply forbidden.
The same applies when you travel without her: the week stays paid, nothing is made up later.
And at least one full day a week stays free, as a rule Sunday (Art. 329 OR). Many NAV give more: Zurich two free days, at least one of them whole (NAV ZH Art. 6 para. 1). A wedding on Saturday and a brunch on Sunday in the same week? Then her free day is gone, and the week plan warns you.
In the Clino employment contract you choose one of two rules: wage plus your canton's supplement, or time off of the same length within three months. It also says that paid hours are not worked off later.
One list, two signatures
The family must be able to show what it paid, the nanny what she worked. Wage claims only expire after five years (Art. 128 no. 3 OR). One list a month (in some cantons every week), signed by both of you, saves you both the argument.
Hours sheet
October 2026
| Date | Time | Hrs | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wed 21.10. | 17:00–19:30 | 2.50 | Overtime |
| Fri 23.10. | 19:00–00:30 | 5.50 | Overtime |
| Total beyond the contract | 8.00 | ||
With the October payslip: wage and supplements.
Or time off by 23.01.2027, if both agree.
Family
Nanny
Signed on 31.10.2026
In Zurich the family keeps the record of hours (NAV ZH, Art. 5 Abs. 4).
With Clino you can switch on time tracking: the nanny enters her hours herself, and you confirm them in the dashboard before you run the payroll.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to pay my nanny's overtime?
Can the contract say that overtime is included in the salary?
Is an evening of babysitting by the nanny overtime?
What does a night with the baby monitor cost?
I pay a monthly salary. How do I work out an overtime hour?
Do I have to keep a record of the hours?
Sources
- Swiss Code of Obligations (OR): Art. 321c (overtime), Art. 324 (employer's default), Art. 329 (time off), Art. 128 no. 3 (limitation), fedlex.admin.ch
- Labour Act (ArG), Art. 2 para. 1 let. g: does not apply to private households, fedlex.admin.ch
- Federal Supreme Court, BGE 124 III 249 E. 3: on-call duty at the workplace and elsewhere
- Geneva, Contrat-type de travail de l'économie domestique (CTT-EDom, J 1 50.03), art. 1, 7 and 10
- Valais, standard employment contract for domestic staff (221.602), Art. 1 and 8
- Appenzell Ausserrhoden, NAV for household employees (222.218), Art. 1, 5, 15 and 26
- Swiss Nanny Association, Our Guidance: questions 7, 8 and 11 (guaranteed hours, banking hours, overtime)
Updated: 22 October 2026. Supplements, night hours, periods and record duties of the other cantons from their household NAV, as the week plan shows them.
Register your nanny
Clino writes your canton's rule for overtime and night work into the contract and works out the supplements every month: contract and AHV registration, a payslip every month, the salary certificate at year end.
Your week in the plan (Zurich): 8 extra hours, CHF 300 with supplements. These are the hours you enter for the payslip.
Zurich: register a nanny, steps and rules →30 days free, then CHF 19.90/month · cancel anytime