Au pair · Romandie
A Swiss au pair year in Romandie: from CHF 500 a month, Geneva's minimum wage from 18
How much pocket money in Romandie?
CHF 500–810Pro Filia's guideline, depending on age and hours. There is no cantonal au pair tariff here like in Geneva, Neuchâtel or Fribourg.
30 days free, then CHF 19.90/month · cancel anytime
AHV and costs in the calculator ↓
A year with a family in French-speaking Switzerland, looking after the children, learning French: the Welschlandjahr is a Swiss tradition. What the host family pays depends on the canton. Geneva requires at least CHF 650 under 18 and the minimum wage from 18, Neuchâtel a band of CHF 550 to 750, Fribourg at least CHF 760. Elsewhere, Pro Filia's guideline applies, CHF 500 to 810. And AHV starts in the year she turns 18.
Key points
- 1A Swiss au pair needs no permit. The Welschlandjahr is open to young people who have finished compulsory school, from 15 to 30.
- 2Geneva: under 18 at least CHF 650 in cash, from 18 the minimum wage of CHF 3'196.70 gross. Neuchâtel: CHF 550 to 750, then CHF 750 to 1'000 from age 20.
- 3Vaud, Valais and Jura have no cantonal au pair tariff; there, Pro Filia's guideline applies: CHF 500 to 810. Fribourg has required at least CHF 760 since May 2025, and CHF 960 from the age of 20.
- 4In Geneva, Neuchâtel and Fribourg at most 30 hours a week (in Fribourg at most 5 hours a day), plus 4 hours of course. Holidays: 5 weeks up to 20.
- 5AHV from 1 January of the year she turns 18, on pocket money plus room and board (CHF 990 a month). She is insured against accidents from the first hour.
What a Welschlandjahr is
After compulsory school, a year with a family in Romandie: looking after children, helping at home, learning French. It is an exchange, not a job. That is why Pro Filia sets a limit for the parents too: together at most 160 % working time, a single parent at most 60 %.
A Swiss au pair needs no permit and keeps her own health insurance. For au pairs from abroad, things differ: a course of at least 120 hours paid by the family, at least half the health insurance premium, costs like an employment.
The permit they need is explained step by step in the post on the au pair permit.
And where the exchange year ends and employment starts is shown in the comparison au pair or nanny: without a course and family life, it is no longer an au pair year.
Every canton has its own rule
Each plate carries the least the family pays, per month. Choose the age and tap the canton: below are the hours, time off, course and holidays.
Tap a canton
Geneva
Vaud
Neuchâtel
Fribourg
Valais
Jura
Geneva
Based on: Geneva NAV for au pairs under 18 (J 1 50.15)
Pocket money
CHF 650
at least, a month
- Working time
- at most 30 hours a week, no compulsory overtime
- Time off
- one day off a week, plus half a day
- Language course
- 4 hours of French a week
- Holidays
- 5 weeks paid
Geneva is the special case. Under 18, the NAV for au pairs under 18 applies: at least CHF 650 in cash, plus room, meals and laundry. From 18, a separate NAV with the minimum wage, CHF 24.59 an hour, CHF 3'196.70 a month for 30 hours. The family may count room and board at CHF 990, leaving CHF 2'206.70 in cash. She is then registered like a nanny.
Neuchâtel sets a band: CHF 550 to 750 up to 20, then CHF 750 to 1'000. Plus at most 30 hours, 1.5 days off including Sunday and three free evenings a week. There, the au pair pays the course.
Vaud expressly excludes au pairs from its NAV for household staff. Fribourg, by contrast, has had its own au pair rules since 1.5.2025, in its NAV for domestic service (RSF 222.5.91, Art. 22–25): at least CHF 760 a month, CHF 960 from the age of 20, plus room, board and laundry; at most 5 hours a day and 30 a week; at least 4 hours of lessons a week. Any departure must be in writing.
Valais has no au pair tariff, but its NAV for household work (RS VS 221.602) does not exclude au pairs: put hours and pocket money in writing and, if in doubt, ask the cantonal labour protection office. For Jura we found no au pair rule of its own. Where no tariff applies, Pro Filia's guideline is used: CHF 500 to 810 depending on age and hours, for 30 to 40 hours over five days.
A fair week
This is what an au pair writes home when things are right: fixed hours, the course, free weekends. The figures on the card follow the rules of Neuchâtel and Geneva, and they match Pro Filia's guidelines.
Evenings count. Time on call is working time (in Geneva, for a minor, one evening on call a week counts as half), late shifts are made up for, and in Neuchâtel she has at least three free evenings a week. How to arrange it is in the post on overtime and evenings.
If she travels with the family and minds the children, it is not a holiday for her; the Neuchâtel NAV says so expressly. What applies when the family leaves without her is in the post on holidays when the family is away.
For trips abroad, a minor needs a travel authorisation from her parents. Hours, expenses and insurance on the road are in the post on travelling with your nanny.
For the au pair and her parents
Leaving home at 15 or 16, in another language: this is what every au pair can ask for. Her parents are best placed to check it before signing.
A written contract
With hours, pocket money, days off, course and holidays. If she is a minor, her parents sign too; in Geneva and Neuchâtel this is mandatory.
Fixed hours, no compulsory overtime
In Geneva, Neuchâtel and Fribourg at most 30 hours a week. Time on call counts, in the evening too.
Time for the course
At least 4 hours a week. The family plans the work so that the course and its preparation fit in.
Days off and holidays
At least one day off a week (OR 329); in Neuchâtel and for minors in Geneva 1.5 days, in Fribourg 2 (NAV Art. 9), usually the whole weekend. Paid holidays: 5 weeks up to 20, then 4 (OR 329a).
Insured from day one
The family insures her against accidents, from 8 hours a week also in her free time. From the year she turns 18, AHV comes on top.
A reference at the end
At the end she gets a work reference that counts for her apprenticeship. Pro Filia allows 3 paid days a year for finding an apprenticeship.
Pro Filia advises au pairs and families in every language region. Anyone who wants to stay in childcare after the year will find pay, rights and a certificate on the page for nannies.
Pro Filia: au pair in SwitzerlandAHV, accident cover and what the family really pays
Pocket money is only part of it. For AHV, room and board count as wage, CHF 990 a month. When contributions start depends on her year of birth.
Born 2009
AHV / AVSIV / AI
Versicherungsausweis · Certificat d'assurance · Certificato d'assicurazione
No AHV until 31.12.2026
Contributions from 1 January 2027
- Pocket money
- CHF 650
- AHV wage with room and board (CHF 990)
- CHF 1'640
- Her deductions
- − CHF 23.48
- She is paid out
- CHF 626.52
- Employer contributions
- CHF 8.28
- You pay a month
- CHF 658.28
Room, board and the language course come on top.
- All charges a year
- CHF 381
Until the end of the year she turns 17, there is no AHV and no ALV. She is still insured against accidents from the first hour; only the non-occupational accident premium comes off her pocket money.
Her parents: if the language course is part of the year, the education allowance can continue, at least CHF 268 a month. Her income of CHF 19'680 a year is under the limit of CHF 30'240.
30 days free, then CHF 19.90/month · cancel anytime
AHV, ALV, non-occupational accident cover and, in the simplified procedure, 5 % withholding tax all come off the pocket money, even though room and board count. On CHF 650 pocket money, an 18-year-old in Vaud is therefore paid out about CHF 438. For au pairs from abroad, the post on au pair pocket money does the same sum.
Accidents: the family takes out accident insurance from the first working day. Without it, the substitute fund pays and claims the premiums back.
Health insurance: the au pair keeps her own insurer. Because the family insures her against accidents, she can have the accident cover there suspended (KVG Art. 8). In her new place she registers as a weekly resident.
Clino prepares the contract, the AHV registration and the payslip, room and board included. How it works for an au pair is on the page register an au pair.
Her parents' education allowance often continues
An au pair stay that includes school lessons counts as education (Art. 49bis AHVV). Her parents then keep receiving the education allowance, at least CHF 268 a month, more in some cantons. Pro Filia counts on it from 4 lessons a week.
The limit: her earned income must not exceed CHF 30'240 a year. With pocket money she stays below it, with Geneva's minimum wage from 18 she does not. Her parents apply to their family allowance fund, with the language school's confirmation.
Meeting, contract, probation
Before the contract comes getting to know each other. Pro Filia recommends 2 to 3 trial days; in Neuchâtel the family pays the trip to the interview. The questions worth asking are in the post on the interview and trial day.
The contract sets hours, pocket money, room and board, course, days off and holidays. With Clino's au pair contract you have it all on one PDF, ready to sign.
Probation: in Geneva 2 months with 5 days' notice, in Neuchâtel 1 month with 3 days (only for an open-ended contract, NAV Art. 17), in Fribourg 2 months with 7 days if agreed (Art. 18), with Pro Filia 1 month with 7 days. After that, usually one month to the end of a month. A fixed-term contract ends without notice (OR 334); if you want to be able to end it earlier, write a notice period into the contract. For a minor, notice goes through her parents.
If she is ill, pocket money, room and board continue, in the first year for at least 3 weeks (OR 324a). In Geneva the NAV requires sickness benefit insurance (80 % for 720 days, premium split half and half), in Neuchâtel it is one month in the first year of service (NAV Art. 15). Who pays when a child or the carer is ill is explained in the post sick child, sick nanny.
And the clauses families forget, from the car to photos of the children, are in the post on nanny contract clauses.
Frequently asked questions
How much pocket money does an au pair get in Romandie?
Do you pay AHV for a 16-year-old au pair?
Who pays for the language course?
How many hours may an au pair work in Romandie?
Do the au pair's parents keep the education allowance?
Does a Swiss au pair need a permit?
Sources
- Geneva: Contrat-type de travail des travailleurs au pair mineurs, rsGE J 1 50.15, Art. 12 (silgeneve.ch, read 21.10.2026).
- Geneva: Contrat-type de travail des jeunes gens au pair majeurs, rsGE J 1 50.12, Art. 9, as of 1.1.2026 (silgeneve.ch).
- Neuchâtel: Contrat-type de travail pour le personnel de l'économie domestique, RSN 225.42, Art. 10 and 20 to 28, in force since 1.8.2023 (rsn.ne.ch).
- Vaud: Contrat-type de travail pour le personnel de l'économie domestique, RSV 222.105.1, Art. 1 para. 3.
- Pro Filia: «Au-pair Inland» and guidelines for au pair employment, approved 17.11.2025 (profilia.ch, read 21.10.2026).
- AHVG Art. 3 para. 2 lit. a; AHVV Art. 11 and 49bis; KVG Art. 8; OR Art. 324a and 329a.
- AHV/IV information office: leaflet 6.08 Family allowances, as of 1.1.2025.
- Canton of Fribourg: ordinance on the standard employment contract for domestic service, RSF 222.5.91, Art. 2, 9, 14, 18 and 22 to 25, in force since 1.5.2025 (bdlf.fr.ch, read on 22.10.2026).
- Valais: standard employment contract for household staff, RS VS 221.602, Art. 1 para. 3 and 5, Art. 2 (lex.vs.ch).
- guidesocial.ch: sheet 535, young household helpers and au pairs, updated 11.04.2025 (Jura).
In each case, the cantonal labour office and the family allowance fund decide.
Register an au pair in Romandie
Choose the canton: the signup opens with the minimum amount there and 30 hours. Clino prepares the contract, the AHV registration and the payslip, you sign.
30 days free, then CHF 19.90/month · cancel anytime