13th salary in Switzerland: mandatory or not, and how to calculate it
Every year-end brings the same question: “Am I entitled to a 13th salary?” The answer often surprises: Swiss law does not require it. Yet more than three employees in four receive one, because their contract, their collective agreement or their company’s practice provides for it.
This guide explains when the 13th salary is owed, what distinguishes it from a gratuity or bonus (art. 322d CO), how it is calculated pro rata when you join or leave during the year, when it must be paid, and what happens in case of illness, dismissal or probation. With figures from the Federal Statistical Office and the case law of the Federal Supreme Court.
Is the 13th salary mandatory?
What the law says: nothing
Art. 322 CO requires the employer to pay the salary that was agreed, is customary, or is set by a standard employment contract or a collective agreement. No provision of the CO imposes a thirteenth month. Without a clause, a collective agreement or an established practice, your annual salary is twelve months.
Your contract provides for it
Once it is written in the contract, the staff regulations or an offer letter, the 13th salary is a component of the salary under art. 322 CO. The employer can no longer remove or reduce it without your consent.
Your collective agreement imposes it
Many collective agreements make it mandatory for a whole sector. Example: the national collective agreement for the hotel and restaurant industry (CCNT) states that the employee is entitled to a 13th salary equal to 100% of one gross monthly salary (art. 12 CCNT). Check whether your sector is covered by an extended collective agreement.
Company practice
According to the Federal Supreme Court, a gratuity paid without reservation for at least three consecutive years is deemed agreed (ATF 129 III 276). A 13th salary paid regularly, without a “voluntary” reservation, therefore becomes a right even if the contract does not mention it.
The figures: three employees in four
According to the Federal Statistical Office’s 2024 Swiss Earnings Structure Survey, 75.9% of employees received a 13th salary. 46.4% of companies pay it to almost all their staff, and 27.9% pay none at all.
13th salary or gratuity: the difference that changes everything
On a payslip, “13th salary”, “gratuity”, “year-end bonus” and “bonus” look alike. Legally, two regimes stand opposed:
- The 13th salary is a component of the salary. Its amount is set in advance, one month’s salary, and it does not depend on the employer’s goodwill. For the Federal Supreme Court, an amount fixed in advance and firmly agreed cannot be a gratuity: it is salary (ATF 129 III 276, consid. 2, and ATF 109 II 447). Consequences: it is owed even after a bad year, it is paid pro rata when you leave, and it cannot be removed unilaterally.
- A gratuity is a special payment. Under art. 322d para. 1 CO, if the employer pays a special remuneration on certain occasions, such as Christmas or the end of the financial year, in addition to the salary, the employee is entitled to it only if this was agreed. It depends at least in part on the employer’s will: the employer may vary its amount according to results or the quality of the work and, if it is discretionary, may not pay it at all.
- Pro rata is not automatic for a gratuity. Under art. 322d para. 2 CO, if the employment ends before the occasion that gives rise to the special remuneration, the employee is entitled to a proportional share only if this was agreed. For the 13th salary, on the contrary, the proportional share is owed because it is salary (ATF 109 II 447).
- The label does not matter. A “gratuity” of a fixed amount, paid every year, is treated as salary. Conversely, a gratuity that regularly exceeds the salary loses its accessory character and becomes at least partly salary, except for very high incomes, where this criterion no longer applies (ATF 129 III 276; ATF 139 III 155).
If your contract speaks of a “gratuity” or “bonus” when you thought you had a 13th salary, ask for a written clarification before signing.
Calculation and pro rata: how much will you receive?
Full year
The 13th salary equals one gross monthly salary, i.e. 8.33% of the annual base salary. With a salary of CHF 6,000 per month, the 13th salary is CHF 6,000 gross.
Joining or leaving during the year
The 13th salary is owed pro rata to the months worked: monthly salary × months worked ÷ 12. If you joined on 1 April, you receive 9/12 of the 13th salary in December; if you left on 30 June, you receive 6/12 with your final salary.
Part-time
The 13th salary is calculated on the salary actually received, so on your workload. At 60%, it is one month’s salary at 60%. A change of workload or a raise during the year leads to a calculation on the sum of the year’s salaries, divided by twelve.
Hourly wage
The 13th salary is often built into the hourly wage as a supplement. The CCNT, for example, provides that when it is paid monthly or with the hourly wage, the amount paid is 8.33% (art. 12 CCNT). Check that the line exists on your payslip.
Overtime, premiums, holidays
What goes into the calculation base depends on the contract or the collective agreement. In the hotel and restaurant industry, rest days, public holidays and holidays paid out at the end of the contract count, and overtime counts only if it is paid regularly (CCNT questions and answers). Absent any specification, the base is the agreed base salary.
When and how is the 13th salary paid?
In December, in two instalments, or every month
Most companies pay it with the December salary. Others split it between June and December, or spread it monthly at 8.33%. The contract or the collective agreement sets the rule: the CCNT, for example, requires payment no later than with the December salary, or when the employment ends (art. 12 CCNT).
At the end of the contract: with the final salary
When the employment relationship ends, all claims arising from it become due (art. 339 para. 1 CO). The share of the 13th salary earned must therefore be paid with the final salary, not the following December.
On the payslip
The employer must provide a written statement (art. 323b para. 1 CO). The 13th salary appears there as a separate line, or is built into the hourly wage with its percentage. If nothing appears, ask.
Social contributions and taxes
The 13th salary is salary: it is subject to AHV/IV/EO/ALV contributions, to occupational pension (BVG) and to tax like the rest of the remuneration. For withholding tax, it is taxed in the month it is paid and counts in the annual income that determines the rate (calculation examples from the canton of Geneva).
Time limit to claim
Salary claims are time-barred after five years (art. 128 para. 3 CO). A forgotten 13th salary or an unpaid pro rata share can therefore be claimed several years later, in writing to the employer and then, failing that, before the labour court.
Leaving, dismissal, illness, probation: the special cases
You resign or are dismissed during the year
The proportional share is owed, whatever the reason the contract ended (ATF 109 II 447). An employer cannot refuse it because you are leaving on your own initiative, unless it is a gratuity without a pro rata clause (art. 322d para. 2 CO). To anticipate your leaving date, see our guide to the notice period.
During the probation period
Some collective agreements exclude the 13th salary if the contract ends during probation: the CCNT provides so expressly (art. 12 para. 2 CCNT). Without a clause of this kind, the proportional share remains owed. Read our guide to the probation period.
Illness, accident, maternity
As long as the employer owes you your salary, it owes you the corresponding share of the 13th salary: this is the case during the salary continuation period of art. 324a CO. When daily sickness allowance insurance or maternity allowance takes over, the benefit is calculated on the insured or relevant salary: check in the insurance conditions whether the 13th salary is included.
Release from the obligation to work
If the employer releases you during the notice period, the salary remains due until the end of the contract, and the 13th salary with it, pro rata.
Change or removal by the employer
An agreed 13th salary cannot be reduced or removed unilaterally: your consent is needed, or a termination combined with an offer of a new contract. A discretionary gratuity, on the other hand, may go unpaid, provided the employer stated its reservation at each payment and the reservation did not remain an empty formula (ATF 129 III 276).
Negotiating the 13th salary when you are hired
Outside a collective agreement, the 13th salary is negotiated like everything else. Four reflexes:
- Think in annual terms. Ask whether the salary quoted is “× 12” or “× 13”. Many Swiss job ads state a gross annual salary: a 13th salary adds nothing to it, it is already included.
- Get the word in writing. “13th salary” in the contract means a salary component. “Gratuity”, “premium” or “bonus” open the door to art. 322d CO, with a variable amount and an uncertain pro rata. If the employer insists on that wording, at least have the pro rata on leaving spelled out.
- Check the collective agreement. If your sector is covered by an extended collective agreement, the 13th salary may be mandatory there: no need to negotiate it, it is owed.
- Use it as leverage. An employer who cannot raise the monthly salary sometimes agrees to a 13th salary, or the reverse. Our advice on negotiating your salary also applies when you are hired.
The Licorn method: your salary requirements before the first exchange
An annual salary, not a vague range
You state in your profile the gross annual salary you require, 13th salary included. Only companies ready to pay it can contact you.
Targeted proposals
Recruiters come to you with a position and conditions that match your criteria: location, workload, remote work, salary. Licorn generates your CV from your profile.
Invisible to your employer
Your profile is hidden from your current employer. You can stay open to the market without risk, and compare your total remuneration with what you are offered.
Frequently asked questions about the 13th salary
No, no federal law requires it. It becomes mandatory if it is provided for by your employment contract, by a collective agreement applicable to your sector, or by company practice, for example payment without reservation for at least three consecutive years (ATF 129 III 276). In practice, 75.9% of employees received one in 2024 according to the Federal Statistical Office.
Yes, pro rata: six twelfths, to be paid with your final salary (art. 339 para. 1 CO), whether you resigned or were dismissed. The exceptions are a discretionary gratuity without a pro rata clause (art. 322d para. 2 CO) and collective agreements that exclude the 13th salary when the contract ends during probation.
Not if it is agreed in the contract, the collective agreement or by practice: it is a salary component, which can only be changed with your consent or by a termination with an offer of a new contract. If it is a gratuity paid “voluntarily”, with a reservation repeated at each payment, the employer may on the other hand decide not to pay it.
As for full time, on the salary actually received: one month of your salary at your workload. If your workload or salary changed during the year, the 13th salary equals the sum of the year’s salaries divided by twelve.
The 13th salary is an amount fixed in advance, owed like the salary. A gratuity and a bonus are special payments (art. 322d CO) whose amount depends at least in part on the employer. The name in the contract is not enough: a fixed amount paid every year is treated as salary, whatever its label (ATF 129 III 276).
Yes, like the rest of the salary: AHV/IV/EO/ALV contributions, occupational pension, accident insurance and taxes. For people taxed at source, it is taxed in the month it is paid and counts in the annual income that sets the rate.
In short
The 13th salary is not a legal obligation, but it becomes a right as soon as it is agreed, provided for by a collective agreement or paid without reservation for several years. It is then salary: owed pro rata when you leave, payable with the final salary, impossible to remove without your consent. Everything hinges on the word written in your contract: “13th salary” or “gratuity”.
And before signing, compare offers in gross annual salary, 13th included.
Sources
- Code of Obligations, art. 128, 322, 322d, 323b, 324a and 339, English translation on Fedlex
- Civil Procedure Code, art. 114, no court costs for employment disputes up to CHF 30,000, on Fedlex
- Federal Statistical Office, Swiss Earnings Structure Survey 2024, press release of 25 November 2025 (13th salary, median wage; in French)
- National collective agreement for the hotel and restaurant industry (CCNT), art. 12, 13th salary (in French)
- CCNT, questions and answers on art. 12 (probation, overtime, hourly wage; in French)
- Federal Supreme Court, ATF 129 III 276, discretionary gratuity, agreed gratuity or salary
- Federal Supreme Court, ATF 109 II 447, gratuity with the characteristics of salary and pro rata
- Federal Supreme Court, ATF 139 III 155, qualification of a bonus for very high incomes
- Canton of Geneva, withholding tax: change of income during the year, bonus and 13th salary (in French)
