Law

Paternity, care and adoption leave: in a private household the EO pays 80 % of the wage

Your cleaner is becoming a father, your nanny's child is seriously ill or your carer is adopting a child? For these leaves the income compensation scheme (EO) pays 80 % of the wage, at most CHF 220 per day. You keep paying the wage and get the EO back. Only the short leave to care for relatives, at most 3 days per case, is paid by you.

23 September 20265 min read

When, how long, who pays

Paternity leave2 weeks, within 6 months of the birthEO pays 80 %
Care leaveup to 14 weeks, within 18 monthsEO pays 80 %
Adoption leave2 weeks, within 12 months of taking the child inEO pays 80 %
Leave to care for relatives3 days per case, at most 10 days per yearYou pay 100 %

WindowLeaveNo dismissal

Leave calculator

What does the EO pay, and what do you pay?

Pick the leave, enter the wage, get the answer in francs.

1. Which leave?

2. Your wage to them (gross)

CHF per hourHours per week

Date of birth (optional)

The EO pays

CHF 672for 14 daily allowances

CHF 48 per day = 80 % of a daily wage of CHF 60.00

2 weeks of leave, to be taken within 6 months

Wage for this periodCHF 840

EO refunds you: CHF 672Rest: voluntary or per contract: CHF 168

If you keep paying the wage, the compensation office pays the EO to you. Only the 80 % is owed.

Form 318.747: they fill it in, you confirm the wage and the leave days and send it to your compensation office.

Calculated per Art. 5 EOV: monthly wage ÷ 30, or hourly wage × weekly hours ÷ 7. If the hours vary a lot, the compensation office takes the average of the last 3 months.

Next question: what goes on this month's payslip? With Clino it is built every month from wage and hours, with all AHV deductions.

Set up the payslip with your figures →

Who pays what

For paternity, care and adoption, the EO replaces the wage. The law asks for no more than these 80 %; you pay more only if your contract says so or you want to. The simplest route is to keep paying the wage as usual: the compensation office then pays the EO to you. Leave to care for relatives under Art. 329h OR works differently. It is paid leave at your expense, and nobody refunds it.

Paternity, care, adoption

1You keep paying the wage
2The compensation office refunds 80 %, at most CHF 220 per day
3AHV on the EO: half is borne by the employee, the other half by the EO, not you

20 %: only if you want to or the contract says so

Leave to care for relatives

Paid leave. You pay the full wage and nobody refunds it.

How to claim the EO

The EO does not arrive by itself. For employees the claim goes through you as the employer: you confirm the wage and the leave days on the form. That only works if your household employee is registered with the AHV. For paternity and adoption leave they must also have been AHV-insured in the 9 months before the birth or adoption and have worked for at least 5 months of that time. Care leave has no such minimum.

1
They announce the leave
Agree on the days. For care leave they must tell you about every change straight away.
2
You confirm
On the form: the wage before the leave, the wage paid during it, the days taken. This requires the AHV registration.
3
The compensation office pays
Paternity and adoption once after the leave, care leave every month. Claims are possible up to 5 years later.

Dismissal, holidays and hourly pay

None of these leaves is a reason to cut holidays. On dismissal protection, however, they differ a lot.

Paternity leaveEO pays 80 %
Form
318.747
Dismissal
The notice period is extended by the leave days not yet taken
Cut holidays?
No
Care leaveEO pays 80 %
Form
318.744 + 318.746
Dismissal
Not allowed while the entitlement runs, at most 6 months
Cut holidays?
No
Adoption leaveEO pays 80 %
Form
318.754 to the EAK
Dismissal
No special protection
Cut holidays?
No
Leave to care for relativesYou pay 100 %
Form
none
Dismissal
No special protection
Cut holidays?
No

Dismissal protection only applies after the probation period (Art. 336c OR). Holidays: Art. 329b OR.

How the EO converts an hourly wage

Most household employees are paid by the hour. The compensation office then takes the hourly wage times the hours of the last normal working week, divided by 7 (Art. 5 EOV). Example: CHF 30 times 14 hours gives CHF 60 per day; 80 % of that is a daily allowance of CHF 48, so CHF 672 for paternity leave. If the hours vary a lot, it takes the average of the last 3 months (Art. 6 EOV). A monthly wage is divided by 30.

No AHV registration, no EO

Clino prepares the AHV registration of your household employee, produces the payslip with all deductions every month and the wage certificate at year end. So the wage you confirm on the EO form is right. Nothing is charged for the first 30 days.

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Frequently asked questions

My cleaner is becoming a father. Do I have to give him 2 weeks off?

Yes. Every employed father is entitled to 2 weeks of leave, to be taken within 6 months of the birth, in one go or as single days (Art. 329g OR). If he only works for you on Tuesdays, it is his Tuesdays in those 2 weeks that fall away. The EO pays 14 daily allowances at 80 % of his wage. The same applies to the mother's wife.

Do I have to pay the wage during paternity leave?

What is owed is the EO's 80 %; more only if your contract says so. The simplest route is to keep paying the wage as normal: whoever keeps paying receives the allowance from the compensation office, for paternity leave in one sum after the last day of leave. AHV contributions are due on the EO too, but the employer's share on it is borne by the EO, not you (Art. 19a EOG).

My nanny's child is seriously ill. How long will she be off?

If the child is seriously impaired by illness or accident, she has up to 14 weeks of care leave, to be taken within 18 months, in one go or as single days (Art. 329i OR). If both parents work, each has 7 weeks, and they may split it differently. A doctor confirms the serious impairment on form 318.744. While the entitlement runs, for at most 6 months, you may not dismiss her.

And if the child is only ill for a few days?

Then leave to care for relatives applies: paid leave of at most 3 days per case and 10 days per year, also when parents or a partner are ill (Art. 329h OR). You pay this wage; the EO refunds nothing. A broken bone, diabetes or pneumonia do not give a right to care leave, as leaflet 6.10 states expressly.

She is paid by the hour, sometimes more, sometimes less. How high is the daily allowance?

With regular hours: hourly wage times the hours of the last normal week, divided by 7, and 80 % of that. If the hours vary a lot, the compensation office uses the income of the last 3 months, converted to a daily figure (Art. 6 EOV). That is why every hour needs to be on the payslip correctly.

Can I cut holidays or give notice?

Cutting holidays: no, for none of these leaves (Art. 329b OR). Giving notice: not during care leave, while the entitlement exists, for at most 6 months from the start of the window. With paternity leave, a notice period is extended by the leave days still open. Adoption leave has no special protection. All protection periods only apply after the probation period.

Sources

OR Art. 329b, 329g-329j, 335c, 336c: leave and dismissal protection - fedlex.admin.ch
EOG Art. 16i-16x, 19a, 20: allowances, contributions, deadlines - fedlex.admin.ch
EOV Art. 5, 6, 31, 34a, 35f: calculation and confirmations - fedlex.admin.ch
Leaflet 6.04: Compensation of the other parent - ahv-iv.ch
Leaflet 6.10: Care allowance - ahv-iv.ch
Leaflet 6.11: Adoption allowance - ahv-iv.ch