Skip to content

Care at home

Supplementary benefits for your carer: how the canton reimburses her wage

Salvador Jovells23 October 20267 min read

The minimum the canton must be able to reimburse, per year
  • Single, living at homeCHF 25'000
  • With an IV helplessness allowance, moderateCHF 60'000
  • With an IV helplessness allowance, severeCHF 90'000

On top of the annual EL, and for all illness and disability costs combined. For the carer herself, the canton sets its own, lower amount.

A carer pours tea into a green cup for an older man at the kitchen table, both are laughing
EL can reimburse a carer's hours if she is properly employed and the need was confirmed beforehand.

If you receive supplementary benefits (EL) to your AHV or IV pension, or your income is just slightly too high for them, the canton can reimburse your costs for help, nursing and care at home. That includes the wage of a carer or household helper you employ yourself. How much per hour, up to what amount and what you need to clarify beforehand is decided by the canton. Here are the rules from the ordinances of 9 cantons.

Who gets money back

The costs are reimbursed to the person who needs help. There are three cases.

You receive annual EL

Then the canton reimburses your documented costs for help, nursing and care on top of your monthly EL, up to its maximum amount.

You get no EL because your income is slightly too high

You are still entitled: the canton reimburses the part of the costs that exceeds your income surplus. Example: the EL calculation shows a surplus of CHF 1'800 a year, and the household helper costs CHF 4'800. You are reimbursed CHF 3'000. For this you need an EL calculation, which means an EL application.

The helplessness allowance and the assistance contribution do not count as income

Neither is counted as income in the EL calculation. An IV helplessness allowance also raises the limit for nursing and care considerably. If you don't have one yet, the helplessness allowance check tells you in one minute whether you may be entitled.

The federal framework

The Federal Act on Supplementary Benefits (ELG, Art. 14) requires the cantons to reimburse costs for help, nursing and care at home. The cantons may set maximum amounts, but no lower than CHF 25'000 a year for single people and CHF 50'000 for married couples living at home (CHF 6'000 in a care home).

With a helplessness allowance from the IV or from accident insurance, the amount for a single person living at home rises to CHF 60'000 (moderate) or CHF 90'000 (severe), insofar as the nursing and care costs are not already covered by the helplessness allowance and the assistance contribution (IV). This also applies to an AHV helplessness allowance that followed an IV one. A purely AHV helplessness allowance does not raise the amount.

This framework covers all illness and disability costs combined, including the dentist, Spitex, your health insurance co-payment or aids and appliances. For a person you employ yourself, each canton also sets an hourly rate and usually a separate annual amount.

What your canton pays for a person you employ yourself

Almost all cantons distinguish two routes. First, household help and care from a private person who does not live with you: a fixed hourly rate and a small annual amount. Second, nursing and care staff employed directly when you have a moderate or severe helplessness allowance: a higher limit, but only after an assessment beforehand.

  • Zurich

    Private person outside your household

    CHF 34 per hourat most CHF 7'400 per year

    Applies to EL to the AHV. For EL to the IV: at most CHF 4'800 per year. Direct relatives (parents, children, grandchildren) are excluded.

    Needed beforehand
    A certificate of need from a body designated by your municipality. Until 31.12.2026, a medical certificate is enough.
    Directly employed nursing staff, moderate or severe helplessness allowance
    At most CHF 30 per hour. The cantonal social office (Kantonales Sozialamt) sets the need and profile beforehand, otherwise nothing is reimbursed. An assistance contribution (IV) takes priority.

    Ordinance: ZLV, LS 831.31, § 11 a-11 e, § 13 ↗ · As of 1.1.2025

  • Bern

    Private person outside your household

    CHF 25 per hourat most CHF 4'800 per year

    Applies to relatives or third parties who do not live in the same household.

    Needed beforehand
    A needs assessment using the form of the Spitex Verband Kanton Bern and a short medical report. Submit copies of your documents, not originals.
    Directly employed nursing staff, moderate or severe helplessness allowance
    Actual costs, but only if a specialist at the Ausgleichskasse Bern has set the type and extent of help and the person's profile beforehand (form KK06).

    Ordinance: EV ELG, BSG 841.311, Art. 17-18 ↗ · As of 1.1.2026

  • Vaud

    Private person outside your household

    CHF 26 per hourat most CHF 4'800 per year

    The EL office pays the social insurance contributions on top of the hourly rate: AHV contributions directly to the compensation office, UVG and BVG premiums against an invoice.

    Needed beforehand
    An assessment by the CMS (AVASAD). The EL office of the compensation office then sets the recognised hours and the rate. Reimbursement is made against a receipt signed by you and the employee.
    Directly employed nursing staff, moderate or severe helplessness allowance
    With a moderate or severe helplessness allowance and permanent staff with an employment contract: up to CHF 25'000 per year. If you are entitled to the assistance contribution, you take that route first.

    Ordinance: RLVPC-RFM, BLV 831.21.1, art. 42 ↗ · As of 1.11.2025

  • Aargau

    Private person outside your household

    CHF 25 per hourat most CHF 4'800 per year

    For a married couple where both need help: at most CHF 8'000 per year.

    Needed beforehand
    A detailed medical certificate and the household help form (Formular Haushalthilfe) of the SVA Aargau.
    Directly employed nursing staff, moderate or severe helplessness allowance
    The Departement Gesundheit und Soziales checks beforehand at your home and sets the extent and profile. Employer contributions are included.

    Ordinance: ELKV, SAR 831.315, § 13-16 ↗ · As of 1.5.2024

  • St. Gallen

    Private person outside your household

    CHF 25 per hourat most CHF 4'800 per year

    The rate includes the employee's AHV, IV, EO and ALV deductions.

    Needed beforehand
    Application with form 5035 to the SVA St. Gallen, with a medical certificate. The SVA sets the hours per month, after which you send the monthly form 5040.
    Directly employed nursing staff, moderate or severe helplessness allowance
    Only for the part that Spitex cannot provide. A body designated by the health department sets the need and profile beforehand.

    Ordinance: VKB, sGS 351.53, Art. 9-12a ↗ · As of 1.1.2026

  • Geneva

    Private person outside your household

    CHF 25 per hourat most CHF 4'800 per year

    Per person and year. The person must be registered and hold a valid work permit.

    Needed beforehand
    A medical certificate of need and a needs estimate by IMAD (the cantonal Spitex), sent to the Service des prestations complémentaires (SPC).
    Directly employed nursing staff, moderate or severe helplessness allowance
    For disability, the cantonal indication commission decides beforehand, otherwise nothing is reimbursed. Employer social insurance contributions count as costs.

    Ordinance: RFMPC, rsGE J 4 20.04, art. 14-16 ↗ · As of 1.6.2024

  • Lucerne

    Private person outside your household

    CHF 25 per hourat most CHF 4'800 per year

    Per household and at most 16 hours per month. Social insurance must be settled.

    Needed beforehand
    The EL household help form (Formular EL Haushaltshilfe) of the WAS Ausgleichskasse Luzern, with the helper's AHV number.
    Directly employed nursing staff, moderate or severe helplessness allowance
    At most CHF 30 per hour (CHF 45 with health insurance approval). A cantonal specialist sets the need and profile beforehand. Social insurance must be settled.

    Ordinance: SRL 881b, § 15-17 ↗ · As of 1.1.2025

  • Basel-Stadt

    Private person outside your household

    CHF 30 per hourat most CHF 5'760 per year

    At most CHF 480 per month. With an assistance contribution (IV): extra hours at CHF 37 during the day and CHF 50 at night, also by relatives.

    Needed beforehand
    A medical prescription stating the number of hours (valid for at most one year) and confirmation from the Ausgleichskasse Basel-Stadt that the person is registered.
    Directly employed nursing staff, moderate or severe helplessness allowance
    The long-term care department (Abteilung Langzeitpflege) must be involved beforehand. Employer social insurance contributions are included.

    Ordinance: KBV, SG 832.720, § 13-16 ↗ · As of 1.1.2025

  • Basel-Landschaft

    Private person outside your household

    CHF 27.90 per hourat most CHF 5'500 per year

    Per household. Every month one form per employed person, with the AHV numbers of both sides.

    Needed beforehand
    The hours are based on the needs assessment of the Spitex association or on a medical certificate that you renew every year.
    Directly employed nursing staff, moderate or severe helplessness allowance
    Reimbursed as appropriate, only for the part that Spitex cannot provide.

    Ordinance: ELV, SGS 833.11, § 18-19b ↗ · As of 1.1.2024

Three rules that apply almost everywhere

  1. Clarify first, then employ. Without a medical certificate, a needs assessment or the office's requirements, the canton often pays nothing at all, not even retroactively.
  2. Anyone living in the same household is not reimbursed. Relatives only in exceptional cases, usually when they lose earnings and are not included in the EL calculation.
  3. The person must be properly employed: registered with the compensation office and with social insurance settled. Zurich and Lucerne make this an explicit condition, Basel-Stadt requires confirmation from the compensation office.

Your canton is missing? The rules are in the cantonal ordinance on the reimbursement of illness and disability costs. Ask the EL office, usually the cantonal compensation office (Zurich: the municipality's Zusatzleistungsstelle, Basel-Stadt: Amt für Sozialbeiträge, Geneva: SPC), about the hourly rate, annual amount and prior assessment.

Step by step: from hiring to reimbursement

  1. Have the need confirmed beforehand

    A medical certificate or medical prescription, plus, depending on the canton, an assessment by Spitex or the office. For directly employed nursing staff, the office also sets the profile the person must have.

  2. Employ correctly

    A written employment contract, registration with the compensation office, accident insurance. The person does not live with you.

  3. Do the payroll every month

    A payslip with hours, hourly wage and deductions, and the wage paid into her account. Some cantons have their own monthly form for this (St. Gallen, Basel-Landschaft).

  4. Submit as you go

    To the EL office of your canton, with the cantonal form. The 15-month deadline runs from the date of invoicing: better to submit every month or every quarter than once a year.

  5. Every year

    Renew the medical certificate where the canton requires it, and send the annual declaration to the compensation office by 30 January.

Documents the EL office typically asks for

  • Medical certificate, medical prescription or certificate of need
  • Copy of the employment contract
  • Payslips showing the hours worked
  • Confirmation from the compensation office that the person is registered
  • Your canton's form, where there is one
  • Copies, not originals

What Clino creates for you

  • The employment contract for care work, as a template ready to sign
  • Every month the payslip as a PDF: hours, hourly wage, gross wage, deductions and employer contributions
  • At year end the salary certificate (Lohnausweis) and the annual declaration for the compensation office
  • A record of hours, when the carer logs her hours via her link

You obtain the medical certificate and the canton's form yourself. Clino does not submit anything to the EL office.

Deadlines and what is changing

Reimbursement must be claimed within 15 months of invoicing, from the EL office of the canton you lived in at the time. After that, the claim lapses.

  • From 2027: if you need an assistant at night and give them a room, an extra CHF 6'000 per year is counted towards your rent.
  • From 2028: household help, meal delivery, escort and transport services and emergency call systems will be reimbursed as flat rates, together at least CHF 11'160 per person and year. The helplessness allowance will no longer be deducted from them. Nursing and care remain reimbursed on documented costs.

EL pays what is documented

Every payslip is a document for the EL office. Clino creates it every month with hours and contributions, plus the salary certificate and annual declaration. Nothing is charged before day 30.

Try free for 30 days

Frequently asked questions

Can I employ a relative and have EL pay for it?
Usually not. Someone living in the same household is not reimbursed for household help in any of the cantons reviewed, and Zurich excludes direct relatives entirely. Bern, Basel-Stadt, Geneva, St. Gallen, Basel-Landschaft, Aargau, Lucerne and Vaud pay other relatives only in exceptional cases, usually when they are not included in the EL calculation and lose earned income as a result. Basel-Stadt explicitly allows relatives for people with an assistance contribution.
Does EL also pay the employer contributions?
That is up to the canton. For directly employed nursing staff, Basel-Stadt, Geneva and Aargau explicitly include employer contributions, Lucerne within the maximum amount. Vaud pays the contributions on top of the hourly rate. For household help, most ordinances only give an hourly rate, and St. Gallen treats it as including the employee's deductions. Ask your EL office what the hourly rate covers.
I don't receive EL. Is an application still worth it?
Yes, if your costs for help and care exceed your income surplus. The canton then reimburses the difference (Art. 14 para. 6 ELG). To get this, you submit an EL application, usually through the AHV branch office (AHV-Zweigstelle) of your municipality.
What applies if I receive the assistance contribution from the IV?
The assistance contribution comes first. EL only reimburses costs it does not cover, and for the higher limit the helplessness allowance and the assistance contribution are deducted from the nursing and care costs. Basel-Stadt pays people with an assistance contribution extra hours at its own rates.
How long do I have to claim reimbursement?
15 months from invoicing (Art. 15 ELG). If you wait until the end of the year to submit everything at once, the first months may already have lapsed. Submit your payslips as you go.

Sources

  • ELG Art. 11, 14 and 15 (as of 1.1.2026) - fedlex.admin.ch
  • FSIO (BSV): Guidelines on supplementary benefits (WEL), as of 1.1.2026, margin nos. (Rz) 5210 to 5310 and Annex 5.7 - sozialversicherungen.admin.ch
  • Information sheet 5.01 Supplementary benefits to the AHV and IV, sections 13 and 21 - ahv-iv.ch
  • FSIO (BSV): Changes to supplementary benefits in 2027 and 2028 (26.08.2026) - bsv.admin.ch
  • BGE 142 V 457 (reimbursement without annual EL) - bger.ch

Learn more

Helplessness allowance 2026: amounts, degree, claimRead article
IV assistance contribution: who gets it and when it paysRead article
Hire a Senior Caregiver in Switzerland - Guide 2026Read article
Family caregivers in Switzerland: pay, AHV credit, leaveRead article
Salvador Jovells

Salvador Jovells, founder of Clino