Do I have to register my au pair?
Yes. An au pair is an employee of your household.
Deadline: one month from the first working day, accident insurance from day one. Only the residence permit stays with you.
Deadline: 1 month from the first working day
Register your au pair in 5 minutes
Contract, AHV registration, payslips: Clino prepares everything, you sign.
Register my au pairthen just CHF 19.90/mo. · cancel anytimeFree adviceon WhatsApp · a person answers
Swiss newsrooms cite our studies
Short and honest
Four questions, four clear answers
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.
Board and lodging count as wage (CHF 990). Contributions are calculated on CHF 1'790 and arrive as one annual invoice.
Set your amount in the calculatorDoes the minimum wage apply?
No, as long as every au pair criterion is met. Confirmed for four cantons; Geneva is the exception.
Ticino and Basel-Stadt: in the law. Zurich: info sheet. Neuchâtel: regulation. Geneva: its own minimum wage, CHF 24.59. The map below shows your canton.
What happens if I get it wrong?
That depends on what is missing.
Nanny wage instead of pocket money, a fine of up to CHF 10'000, back payments up to five years. Registered, none of this touches you.
Example with CHF 800 pocket money. 2026 rates checked on . Sources and method
Register my au pair
Deadline: 1 month from the start · 30 days free
Au pair or nanny? The authority counts criteria, not titles.
The yardstick is the Zurich Tripartite Commission's list of criteria, based on Art. 48 VZAE. If one point is missing, you have hired a nanny.
| Au pair | |
|---|---|
| Age | 18 to 30 (from non-EU/EFTA countries: 18 to 25, Art. 48 VZAE) |
| Language course | local national language, guideline 120 hours a year; you put your contribution in the contract |
| Working time | at most 30 hours a week; childcare and light housework count, evenings included |
| Day off | at least one a week |
| Parents | one parent is at home for at least half of the working time |
| Tasks | childcare and light housework; no child-raising duties, no tutoring |
| Living | with the host family, own room |
| Duration | one year, extendable once by one year (from non-EU/EFTA countries: at most twelve months) |
| Wage | pocket money plus board and lodging; no minimum wage where a source confirms it |
If one criterion falls away, the difference to the NAV wage can be claimed back. Over CHF 22'680 a year, the office settles the whole year under the ordinary procedure.
Where the minimum-wage exemption comes from
Where the exemption is documented
Four cantons with a documented exemption, Geneva with its own minimum wage, 21 with no published source. Tap your canton.
In statuteCantonal guidanceMinimum wage appliesNo source found
The first step, already done
The au pair contract? Already drawn up.
Hours, day off, pocket money, board and lodging, language course: everything the authority checks is a clause in the contract. You fill in names and amounts, print, sign.
- With the au pair addendum: the criteria live in the contract, not just in an info sheet
- Board and lodging correctly part of the wage, the way the office expects it
- Filled in within 5 minutes, as a PDF ready to sign
Included in the subscription, CHF 19.90 a month. Nothing is charged before day 30.
Clino
Employment contract
- Pocket moneyCHF 800 / month
- Board and lodgingCHF 990, in the AHV wage
- Working timemax. 30 h / week
- Day off1 per week
- Language course120 h / year
- Holiday4 weeks, under 20: 5
Host family
Au pair
What it costs and what you settle on
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.
Register my au pair
Deadline: 1 month from the start · 30 days free
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?
How it works: you, Clino, your au pair
Six steps. Clino prepares three, your au pair does one, two stay with you.
You
- Sort out the stay: EU/EFTA at the municipality, non-EU/EFTA through a licensed organisation (Art. 48 VZAE).
- Take out accident insurance, from the first working day.
Clino prepares
- Draw up the au pair contract: hours, day off, pocket money, board and lodging, language course.
- Register with the compensation office, within one month, with pocket money plus wage in kind.
- A payslip every month, the wage declaration once a year.
Your au pair
- Choose a Swiss health insurer, within three months (KVG Art. 3).
Register my au pair
Deadline: 1 month from the start · 30 days free
What hardly anyone thinks of
We tell you beforehand.
Liability and health insurance are not accident insurance.
You take out the accident insurance, from the first working day. Basic health insurance is your au pair's job (KVG Art. 3); sick-pay insurance depends on the canton.
With ClinoShows both for your canton and ticks the simplified procedure plus.
The compensation office bills once a year.
Only the pocket money leaves your account each month. The contributions arrive as one annual invoice, payable within 30 days: set the amount aside monthly.
With ClinoShows what is accumulating 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, otherwise it is a nanny.
With ClinoThe contract prints the limit; the calculator warns before CHF 22'680 a year.
Ready in 5 minutes
Register an au pair with Clino
Contract with au pair addendum, board and lodging in the AHV wage, the prepared registration, a payslip every month. What Clino does not do: the residence permit. All 26 cantons, CHF 19.90 a month.
The deadline runs from the first working day: registration within one month, accident insurance from day one.
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. Holiday: five weeks a year until age 20, four after that (Art. 329a CO). The annual wage declaration to the compensation office remains due for the months worked. Clino produces the final payslip and the reference letter.
Other household roles too
Register other household help
Correctly registered, insured and paid. One flat price.
2026 rates checked on . 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, Art. 1 para. 1 VOSA, KVG Art. 3, NAV Hauswirtschaft ZH Art. 12 and 26, CNL Ticino art. 19, Art. 329a CO, Art. 95 UVG. 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
Ready? First payslip in 5 minutes.
Start for free