Register your au pair, without accidentally hiring a nanny

No minimum wage, as long as every au pair criterion is met; confirmed for Zurich and Ticino. AHV, accident insurance and board and lodging as part of the wage apply everywhere. Clino prepares everything, without a false minimum-wage warning.

Nothing is charged before day 30. Cancel monthly. You sign and send everything yourself, Clino prepares it.

Contract with au pair addendumBoard and lodging in the AHV wage

Swiss newsrooms cite our studies

No paid placement, no partnership.

Short and honest

Four questions, four clear answers

Do I have to register my au pair?

Yes. An au pair is an employee of your household.

The title changes nothing. You register her with the compensation office of your canton of residence within one month of her first working day, under the simplified procedure. Accident insurance must be in place from the first working day; it cannot be backdated. The deadline runs from her first working day, not from your trial period with Clino. The residence permit is a separate step with your municipality or the migration office; Clino does not handle it.

What does it really cost?

For her, CHF 570.31 net. For you, around CHF 942 a month, plus food, a room and a language course.

Example with CHF 800 pocket money. Board and lodging count as wage; the federal rate values them at CHF 990 a month (Art. 11 AHVV). Contributions are therefore calculated on CHF 1'790, not on CHF 800. AHV, ALV, non-occupational accident and 5 % withholding tax are calculated on CHF 1'790 and deducted from the pocket money. CHF 570.31 goes from your account to her straight away; the rest arrives once a year as an invoice from the compensation office: set it aside monthly. Example for the canton of Zurich; other cantons differ by a few francs in the FAK rate. CHF 21'480 a year stays under the CHF 22'680 ceiling.

Set your amount in the calculator

Does the minimum wage apply?

No, as long as every au pair criterion is met. Confirmed for two cantons.

In Ticino the exemption is written into the law (LSM Art. 3 cpv. 1 lett. c); in Zurich it is in the info sheet of the Tripartite Commission. For the other cantons we have found no published source. That does not mean there is no exemption: ask your canton's labour inspectorate before you make the offer. The criteria are listed below, point by point.

What happens if I get it wrong?

That depends on what is missing.

One criterion falls away: then you have hired a nanny. In Zurich the NAV Hauswirtschaft then applies, CHF 20.35 an hour, around CHF 2'646 a month at 30 hours, and the difference can be claimed back from you. Over CHF 22'680 a year: the compensation office recalculates the whole calendar year under the ordinary procedure, from age 25 with pension fund savings contributions. Never registered: a fine of up to CHF 10'000 and back payment of contributions, up to five years back. Accident without insurance: your au pair is covered by the Ersatzkasse UVG, and the Ersatzkasse bills you for the premiums, up to five years back.

Sources: Art. 1 para. 1 VOSA; Art. 11 AHVV; AHV info sheets 2.06 and 2.07; LSM Ticino Art. 3; info sheet of the Zurich TPK; SVA Zurich, SVA Graubünden and Ersatzkasse UVG, written replies August 2026. Example with CHF 800 pocket money; your amount is freely negotiable. 2026 rates checked on July 17, 2026. Sources and method

The conditions: all of them, not most of them

Au pair is not a discount tier, it is a classification. It flips the moment a single condition stops holding, and the minimum wage then applies retroactively from the start.

At most 30 hours a week, light housework included
At least one free day a week
A parent at home for at least half of the au pair's working time
A course in the local language, as a guideline 120 hours a year, with a contribution from the family
Aged between 18 and 30 (from a third country: 18 to 25), with their own room in the home
Childcare and light housework only: no teaching, no tutoring
One year, extended by at most one further year (from a third country: twelve months at most, Art. 48 VZAE)

What happens when one condition falls away

It stops being an au pair placement and becomes household employment, and the binding minimum wage applies: CHF 20.35 an hour, so roughly CHF 2'646 gross a month at 30 hours instead of CHF 800 in pocket money. The difference can be claimed retroactively. On top of that the wage sum climbs past CHF 22'680, which removes the simplified procedure and adds BVG.

Clino is simple

Clino handles the paperwork. You stay in control.

What Clino does, for CHF 19.90

Employment contract ready to sign
Wage & social contributions calculated
Registration & forms pre-filled
Reminds you of every deadline, how, when, where

What stays with you

Confirm with one click
Pay the wage directly

No power of attorney, full control

She arrives. The paperwork is already done.

What it costs and what you settle on

The most common mistake is to settle on the pocket money alone. For the AHV it is pocket money plus the wage in kind that counts, with board and lodging valued at the Art. 11 AHVV rates: CHF 33 a day, so CHF 990 a month. With CHF 800 in pocket money you therefore settle on CHF 1'790, not on CHF 800.

Set the pocket money

CHF 800

Pocket money (cash): CHF 800
Board & lodging (AHVV Art. 11): CHF 990
AHV-liable wage: CHF 1'790
Per year: CHF 21'480

Simplified-procedure ceilingCHF 22'680

Simplified procedure: one settlement a year.

Board and lodging count at the statutory rate. That is the part most often forgotten.

Pocket money plus board and lodging of CHF 990 gives the AHV wage. Net for your au pair at CHF 800: CHF 570.31, under the simplified procedure with VAVplus.

UNDECLAREDThe dark reality.

✕No contract: in a dispute, only what you both remember counts
✕Accident: the substitute fund pays, you owe 5 years of premiums
✕AHV: 5 years of back contributions, fine up to CHF 10'000

REGISTEREDThe bright reality.

✓NAV contract: holidays, notice and sick pay settled
✓Accident cover from the very first hour
✓AHV years for her, payslips for you

⇄

DRAG THE LINE: WHERE DOES YOUR HOUSEHOLD STAND?

Art. 95 para. 1 UVG; Ersatzkasse UVG, written reply of 7 August 2026.

What you concretely do as a host family

1Sort out the stay: EU/EFTA nationals register with the municipality. From a third country the placement must go through a licensed organisation, the au pair is aged 18 to 25 and the permit runs for at most twelve months (Art. 48 VZAE). Clino does not handle this step.
2Draw up a written au pair contract: hours, free day, holidays, pocket money, board and lodging, language course. Clino generates it with the au pair addendum.
3Register with the compensation office of your canton, using pocket money PLUS the wage in kind as the wage sum.
4Take out accident insurance (UVG), effective from the first working day.
5Check that your au pair holds Swiss health insurance. Working here means insuring here.
6Monthly statements and the wage declaration at year end. On the simplified procedure that is one settlement a year.

Five things host families only run into after registering

What hardly anyone thinks of

We tell you beforehand.

Liability insurance is not accident insurance.

Personal liability insurance does not replace UVG accident insurance, and neither does your au pair's health insurance with accident cover («Krankenversicherung mit Unfalleinschluss ist nicht ausreichend», health insurance with accident cover is not sufficient, Zurich Tripartite Commission). You take out the accident insurance, from the first working day, not retroactively. If you already have a policy, check its notice period first (info sheet 2.07 section 7).

With ClinoShows whether your compensation office offers the simplified procedure plus and ticks it in the registration. If not, Clino guides you to your own policy.

Health insurance and sick-pay insurance are two different things.

Basic health insurance is your au pair's responsibility: in Switzerland, within three months of taking up residence (KVG Art. 3 para. 1). Who pays the premium is something you put in the contract. Sick-pay insurance (Krankentaggeld) depends on the canton: Zurich requires it, 80 % from day 31, including on board and lodging (NAV ZH Art. 12 and 26); Ticino does not (CNL art. 19).

With ClinoShows your canton's rule and includes board and lodging in the calculation.

The compensation office bills once a year.

Only the pocket money leaves your account each month. The contributions arrive as one invoice after the annual wage declaration (due by 30 January), payable within 30 days; miss the deadline and you risk exclusion from the simplified procedure (info sheet 2.07 section 10). Set the amount aside monthly.

With ClinoShows you every month what is accumulating for the compensation office, prepares the annual wage declaration and reminds you before 30 January.

30 hours means all hours.

Evening childcare and light housework count too. And one parent is at home for at least half of the working time. If both parents work full time outside the home, it is no longer an au pair position but a nanny; in Zurich at the NAV wage of CHF 20.35 an hour.

With ClinoThe contract prints the 30-hour limit and the line between au pair and nanny; the calculator shows when you exceed CHF 22'680 a year.

Under 20: five weeks of holiday. And the goodbye comes sooner than you think.

Art. 329a CO: five weeks of holiday until the age of 20, four weeks after that. On departure: final payslip, holiday pro rata, board and lodging until she moves out, deregistration with the compensation office, reference letter (Arbeitszeugnis).

With ClinoChecks her age, calculates holiday pro rata and produces the final payslip and the reference letter.

Sources: info sheet of the Zurich TPK, footnote 2 · AHV info sheet 2.07 sections 7 and 10 · KVG Art. 3 para. 1 · NAV Hauswirtschaft ZH Art. 12 and 26 · CNL Ticino art. 19 · Art. 329a CO

Where the minimum-wage exemption comes from

In statuteCantonal guidanceNo source foundTap a canton

Where the exemption is documented

Two cantons we checked against a primary source. The other 24 are grey because we found no published source there, not because the exemption fails there.

Ready in 5 minutes

Register an au pair with Clino

You get the contract with au pair addendum, board and lodging in the AHV wage, the prepared registration for your compensation office and a payslip with the net amount every month, without a false minimum-wage warning. What Clino does not do: the residence permit. All 26 cantons, CHF 19.90 a month.

Registration within one month of the start date, accident insurance from the first working day. Do not wait: the deadline runs from her first working day, not from your trial period.

Nothing is charged before day 30. Cancel monthly. You sign and send everything yourself, Clino prepares it.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to register an au pair with the AHV?

Yes. Pocket money plus wage in kind count as wage subject to AHV, regardless of the fact that no minimum wage applies. You register the au pair with the compensation office of your canton of residence and take out accident insurance, either through the simplified procedure plus or with your own policy.

How much does my au pair keep net?

With CHF 800 pocket money and CHF 990 board and lodging: CHF 570.31 a month, under the simplified procedure with VAVplus. Deducted are AHV/IV/EO 5.3 %, ALV 1.1 %, non-occupational accident 1.432 % and 5 % withholding tax, all calculated on the AHV wage of CHF 1'790 but taken only from the cash wage. You pass the withholding tax on through the compensation office; you do not settle with the tax office.

Accident insurance through the compensation office or my own policy?

If your compensation office offers the simplified procedure plus, tick it in the registration; the office bills the premium together with the contributions (occupational accident at your expense, non-occupational accident from the wage). In Ticino this is the only route through the office (Modulo 111, points 6 and 10). Otherwise you take out your own policy, before the first working day; if you already have a policy, check its notice period first.

She is from Colombia. Do I need an agency?

EU/EFTA: registration with the municipality, L or B permit. Non-EU/EFTA: yes, the placement goes through an organisation licensed for job placement, the au pair is 18 to 25 years old and the permit is valid for at most twelve months, with no extension (Art. 48 VZAE). Clino does not handle the residence permit; everything after that (contract, AHV, accident insurance, wage) it does.

Is the European Health Insurance Card enough?

No. Anyone in gainful employment in Switzerland is subject to the Swiss insurance obligation and takes out health insurance here with a Swiss insurer, within three months of taking up residence (KVG Art. 3 para. 1).

Does an au pair stay in the simplified procedure?

Usually yes: CHF 800 plus CHF 990 comes to CHF 21'480 a year, under the CHF 22'680 ceiling. Count the wage in kind, otherwise you underestimate by almost CHF 12'000 a year. Anyone who exceeds the ceiling during the year is settled under the ordinary procedure for the whole year (reply from SVA Graubünden, August 2026).

She leaves after two months. What do I still owe her?

Wages up to the last day, untaken holiday pro rata, board and lodging until she moves out, a reference letter. The annual wage declaration to the compensation office remains due for the months worked. Clino produces the final payslip and the reference letter.

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If an accident happens, you are both protected.

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2026 rates checked on July 17, 2026. Read: Art. 11 AHVV, AHV info sheets 2.06 and 2.07, SECO NAV Hauswirtschaft as of 1 January 2026, info sheet of the Zurich TPK, LSM Ticino Art. 3, Art. 48 VZAE. Written replies: Ersatzkasse UVG 7 August 2026, SVA Graubünden 7 August 2026, IAS Ticino 12 August 2026, SVA Zurich 13 August 2026. No reply on au pairs from the Zurich TPK or the Ispettorato Ticino. Report an error

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