Nanny · Employment law
Your child starts Kindergarten: how to reduce your nanny's hours fairly
When must your nanny have the letter?
31 May 2027is the last day it can reach her for the new hours to apply from 1 August 2027. In her year 3 of service: 2 months' notice, to the end of a month.
If she says yes, a signed addendum is enough.
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Work out the new hours and pay ↓
From August your child spends the mornings at Kindergarten, and the family only needs the nanny in the afternoons. Fewer hours mean lower pay: that takes her yes or an Änderungskündigung (notice with an offer of new terms). Talk early and hand over the letter in time, and you pay no month too many. The calculator shows your date.
Key points
- 1Fewer hours are lower pay. That takes her consent or an Änderungskündigung.
- 2Without her yes, the new hours only apply after the notice period, and what counts is the day she receives the letter.
- 3Keep the hourly wage the same. It is fair, and it protects any claim she may have to unemployment benefit for the lost hours.
- 4Until the notice period ends you pay the old wage, including hours you no longer need.
- 5Check the knock-on effects: if the annual wage is no longer above CHF 23'040 (2027), the BVG duty ends. Under 8 hours a week with you, she has to insure accidents off work through her health insurance, unless another employer covers her.
Two ways to fewer hours
An employment contract binds both sides. You cannot simply cut the hours: if you give her less work, you still owe the agreed wage (OR 324). There are two clean ways.
With her yes: the addendum
Talk to her early, put the offer in writing and give her time. If she agrees, you both sign an addendum to the contract. A start date after her notice period is fair: it leaves her time to find a second family.
Without agreement: the Änderungskündigung
You give notice on time and offer the new hours in the same letter. If she accepts, she carries on with the new hours after the notice period. If she declines, the job ends with the notice period.
An Änderungskündigung is allowed when there is a genuine reason, and the school start is one. It would be abusive as pressure without a reason, or if the new terms were to apply before the notice period ends (BGE 123 III 246). For the letter itself, use our termination letter template.
What changes in the week plan
In most cantons a child starts Kindergarten if they are 4 years old by 31 July (HarmoS Agreement Art. 5). Lessons are usually held in Blockzeiten, fixed morning blocks. The nanny picks the child up, cooks and stays for the afternoon.
Nanny: 25 hours a week
Kindergarten
CHF 3'250 a month
CHF 30.00 × 25 × 52 ÷ 12
Think of the school holidays: your child is home all day again. Write down in the addendum how much she works then. You set the dates of her holidays, taking her wishes into account (OR 329c). What applies when you travel yourself is in our post on nanny holidays.
For the hours around lessons, many schools offer Tagesstrukturen, day care before and after school; they are voluntary and usually paid for by parents (HarmoS Agreement Art. 11). What canton and commune pay towards childcare, also with a nanny, is in our post on childcare subsidies.
Which care is typical at which age is in our overview of school and childcare by age.
When the letter must reach her
The new hours only apply after the notice period. Under the OR that is 1 month in the first year of service, 2 months up to the ninth and 3 months after that, always to the end of a month; 7 days during probation (OR 335b, 335c). Some cantonal NAVs set longer periods, and the calculator takes the longer one. For notice without an offer, use the notice period calculator.
What counts is the day she receives the letter, not the postmark. The safest way is to hand it over in person and have her confirm receipt with the date. If she asks, give your reasons in writing (OR 335).
After probation she is protected: while she is ill or after an accident, you may not give notice for 30, 90 or 180 days depending on her year of service, and not at all during pregnancy and for 16 weeks after the birth. Notice given during that time is void; if she falls ill during the notice period, the period stops running (OR 336c). So do not hand over the letter on the last day. Our dismissal guide explains the whole process.
Your plan: date, pay and what changes
Canton, start, hours now and later, hourly wage: the calendar shows when the letter must reach her and how long the old hours still run. Below it you see the new monthly wage and what happens to her pension fund, accident cover and family allowances.
Your calendar up to the new hours
- Oct2026
- Nov
- Dec
- Jan2027
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May 31.
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug 1.
- Talk, offer in writing
- Letter must reach her
- Notice period: old hours, old pay
- New hours
- Letter reaches her by
- 31 May 2027
- Last day on the old hours
- 31 July 2027
- New hours from
- 1 August 2027
In year 3 of service: 2 months' notice to the end of a month, the longer of the NAV Zurich and OR 335c.
What the new hours change
- Monthly wageCHF 5'200 CHF 3'250
Same hourly wage CHF 30.00, 40 → 25 hours a week × 52 ÷ 12
- Pension fund (BVG)
Still mandatory: CHF 39'000 a year is above CHF 23'040 (2027).
- Accidents off work
Still covered by your accident insurance: from 8 hours a week with you.
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How the pension fund works for nannies, also when it stays, is in our post on the nanny pension fund.
The addendum: one page is enough
Whether she agrees or accepts the Änderungskündigung, you end up with a short addendum: the new hours, the pay and the school holidays. Better still, cover the school start in the first contract; the clauses families forget are in our post on nanny contract clauses.
Addendum to the employment contract
Employer: Familie Keller · Employee: Marta Silva
1. Working hours. From 1 August 2027, Marta Silva works 25 instead of 40 hours a week, Monday to Friday 11.45–16.45.
Fixed hours: you pay them even on a day you do not need her (OR 324).
2. Pay. The hourly wage stays CHF 30.00 gross. New monthly wage CHF 3'250.00 instead of CHF 5'200.00.
Same hourly wage: that way she can claim the missing hours at the RAV.
3. School holidays. In the school holidays she works up to 40 hours a week by agreement, at the same hourly wage, agreed 4 weeks ahead.
Extra hours are paid, never offset against later: no hours account.
4. Everything else. Everything else stays as in the employment contract of 1 August 2024.
Her years of service keep counting, notice period included.
Zürich, 12 May 2027
Place, date
S. Keller
Employer
M. Silva
Employee
Two copies, both sign.
A new contract with everything it must contain comes out of the nanny employment contract generator. If hours are added in the holidays or in the evenings, see what counts as overtime in our post on overtime and evenings.
What to avoid
Simply booking her for fewer hours
Without an addendum or notice you owe the full wage, also for hours without work, and you may not make her work them later (OR 324).
An hours account she has to work off
Hours in reserve that she has to make up later are not allowed, according to the Swiss Nanny Association. Guaranteed hours are paid hours.
Cutting the hourly wage as well
It hits her twice: lower pay and, after an Änderungskündigung, no unemployment benefit for the lost hours (AVIV 41a).
Handing over the letter on the last day
If it arrives a day late or she is ill that day, everything moves by at least a month, more if the illness lasts. Allow 2 weeks of margin.
For the nanny: your rights when your hours go down
You do not have to say yes straight away. Ask for the offer in writing, do the maths and ask questions before you sign.
Full pay until the notice period ends
Until the new hours apply, you get your current wage, even if the family needs you less (OR 324).
You may say no
If you decline, the job ends with the notice period. Notice meant to force worse terms before the period ends is abusive (OR 336). Object in writing before the notice period ends (OR 336b).
Register as partly unemployed
If your hourly wage stays the same, you can register with the RAV as partly unemployed for the lost hours (AVIG 10). Ask the RAV before you turn down an offer, or you risk suspension days. More in our post on unemployment benefit.
Check accident cover and pension fund
If you work fewer than 8 hours a week for each of your employers, add accident cover to your health insurance (UVV 13). If the BVG duty ends and the fund's rules do not keep insuring you, your savings go to a vested benefits account or policy in your name (FZG 2 and 4). Tell the fund where to send them.
Ask for an interim reference
You can ask for a reference at any time (OR 330a). An interim reference helps you find a second family; what a good one looks like is in our post on work references.
Fill the hours
Many nannies add a second family or nanny sharing, often in the mornings while the children are at school.
Independent support: Swiss Nanny Association
The Swiss Nanny Association is a nonprofit association supporting nannies and Au Pairs with information, resources, training and guidance on fair working conditions in Switzerland.
For information and resources, visit swissnanny.orgFrequently asked questions
Can I simply reduce my nanny's hours?
When must I give notice for the new hours to apply from 1 August?
Is an Änderungskündigung abusive?
Should the hourly wage stay the same?
What happens to the pension fund when she earns less?
What if she falls ill during the notice period?
Sources
- Swiss Code of Obligations (OR, SR 220): Art. 324, 329c, 330a, 335, 335b, 335c, 336, 336b, 336c. fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/27/317_321_377/de
- Federal Supreme Court, BGE 123 III 246 (Änderungskündigung). servat.unibe.ch/dfr/bge/c3123246.html
- BVG (SR 831.40) Art. 2, 7 and 10; thresholds under BVV 2 Art. 5. fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/1983/797_797_797/de
- Vested Benefits Act (FZG, SR 831.42) Art. 2 and 4. fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/1994/2386_2386_2386/de
- Accident Insurance Ordinance (UVV, SR 832.202) Art. 13. fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/1983/38_38_38/de
- AVIG (SR 837.0) Art. 10 and 24; AVIV (SR 837.02) Art. 5 and 41a. fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/1982/2184_2184_2184/de
- Family Allowances Act (FamZG, SR 836.2) Art. 13 para. 3: the minimum income, all employers together, is half the yearly minimum full AHV old-age pension: CHF 7'680 (2027). fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/2008/51/de
- HarmoS Agreement Art. 5 and 11 (school entry, Blockzeiten). so.lexwork.naz.ch/de/dta/411-214-1.pdf
- Swiss Nanny Association, Guidance FAQ (guaranteed hours, hours account). swissnanny.org/ourguidance
Updated: 22 October 2026. Notice periods under the OR and the cantonal NAV; your contract may set longer ones.
Register your nanny
The new hours bring a new wage. Clino prepares her payslip every month with all deductions, and the salary certificate at the end of the year. Choose your canton for the local rules, or read everything about registering a nanny.
30 days free, then CHF 19.90/month · cancel anytime