Comparison
Payrolling for a Swiss household: when is it worth it?
In fees it costs CHF 600 to 1'800 a year for a nanny earning CHF 60'000.
With payrolling, a firm employs the person you found yourself and bills you the wage, the contributions and a percentage of the wage. You are then no longer the employer, the firm is. That is worth it if that is exactly what you want. But the fee grows with every raise, a flat fee does not.
What does payrolling cost at your wage?
Set the annual wage. Only the fees are compared: you pay the wage, contributions and insurance either way.
CHF 60'000 a year · CHF 5'000 a month
Payrolling at 1%
CHF 600 a year
Payrolling at 3%
CHF 1'800 a year
Clino · flat fee, you stay the employer
CHF 238.80 a year
At CHF 60'000, payrolling costs CHF 600 to CHF 1'800 a year. The flat fee stays at CHF 238.80: CHF 361 less even at the lowest rate.
Percentages from payrolling providers' published prices, applied to the gross wage (as of 7.11.2026). Some charge on the invoice amount, which costs more; a comparison portal calls 3 to 8% usual. Clino: CHF 19.90 a month.
Rather stay the employer? Clino prepares her registration and does the payslip every month, prefilled with this wage.
Register her with this wage →How payrolling works
The person works in your home and follows your instructions. But she is employed by the payrolling firm.
You find the person
You choose the nanny, household help or carer yourself, and you tell her what to do day to day.
The firm employs her
It signs the employment contract, pays the wage, settles AHV, ALV, FAK and withholding tax and insures her. Notice, too, has to come from the firm.
You pay an invoice
Every month: wage, employer contributions, insurance and the firm's fee, usually a percentage of the wage.
Legally, this is staff leasing
SECO treats payrolling as staff leasing (Personalverleih), even when the client is a private household. The firm needs a licence under the Recruitment Act (AVG). Knowingly using a firm without one can cost a fine of up to CHF 40'000 (Art. 39 AVG). The SECO register shows whether it has one.
What changes with payrolling
Anyone employed by a payrolling firm falls under the extended collective agreement for staff leasing (GAV Personalverleih). Its rules replace the federal NAV for domestic work (Art. 2 NAV) and go further in places:
13th month's salary
She is entitled to it (Art. 18 GAV). Through the invoice, you end up paying it.
Sick pay cover from the start
Insured from the first working day, at 80% of the wage after at most 2 waiting days (Art. 28 and 29 GAV). She pays at most half of the premium.
Pension fund sooner
From the first day for open-ended contracts or those over 3 months, otherwise from the 14th week (Art. 31 GAV).
0.8% for training
Split equally between her and the employer (Art. 7 GAV). The agreement's minimum wages apply too.
When it pays off and when it does not
Payrolling fits if
- you do not want to be an employer at all: no registration, no insurance of your own, no payslips.
- the wage is high, pension fund, sick pay and withholding tax all come together and you have no time for it.
- you only need someone for a short time and do not want an employment relationship of your own.
Staying the employer is better if
- cost matters to you: from an annual wage of CHF 23'880, even 1% costs more than a flat fee of CHF 238.80 a year.
- you want to use the simplified procedure: settling once a year with the compensation office. Only an employer can.
- you want to decide what goes in the contract. With payrolling the firm signs it, on its own terms and the GAV's.
The other route: stay the employer, with help
As an employer you have four tasks. None of them needs a firm in between:
Register
With your canton's compensation office; up to CHF 22'680 wage per person also in the simplified procedure.
Insure
Occupational accident cover from the first hour, sick pay depending on the canton: accident insurance for household help.
Do the payroll
A payslip every month, the salary certificate in January.
Pension fund
Only from an annual wage of CHF 22'680. What it costs and how to find a fund: pension fund for a nanny.
Clino prepares all of it for CHF 19.90 a month, whatever the wage: registration, payslips, salary certificate. You sign and submit. What the providers charge for payroll: nanny payroll compared.
Frequently asked questions
Is payrolling legal for a private household?
Who is the employer with payrolling?
Does the NAV for domestic work apply with payrolling?
Can I use the simplified procedure with payrolling?
Is payrolling worth it for a cleaner with a few hours?
Sources
- SECO: directives on the AVG (payrolling, private households as client businesses), in German
- Recruitment Act AVG (SR 823.11), Art. 12, 19, 22, 39
- SECO: register of licensed recruitment and staff-leasing firms
- GAV Personalverleih 2024–2027 (Art. 2, 7, 18, 28, 29, 31), in German
- NAV for domestic work (SR 221.215.329.4), Art. 2
- AHV leaflet 2.07: simplified procedure, in German
- FSIO: occupational pension limits 2026
Fees: published prices of four payrolling providers and one comparison portal, read on 7 November 2026. Not legal advice: in each case the firm's contract and the GAV apply.