Hiring a cross-border worker in Switzerland in 2026: G permit, procedure, withholding tax, telework and jobs for cross-border commuters

No permit, a free online notification before the start of work, to the SEM or the cantonal authority depending on the canton. If the person has already worked three months in the year or holds a permit, an authorisation is needed instead.

It is issued for the length of the contract if it runs between three months and one year, for five years if it is one year or longer or open-ended. The employer’s name appears on the permit, but the holder has professional and geographic mobility throughout Switzerland.

In the canton of Vaud, the employer fills in form G1 online; the permit and the invoice, 70 francs, are sent to the employer, who is jointly liable. In Geneva, the worker files the online request for a job of more than three months; a change of employer is notified within 14 days and work can start as soon as the complete file is sent. Check your canton’s migration service page before signing the contract.

G permit issued on the employer’s request, after a labour market check: in Geneva, the OCIRT verifies the searches made on the Swiss and European markets, and the lead time is six to eight weeks. The initial permit is valid for one year, for the border zone of the issuing canton, and a new permit is needed to change job or occupation.

The United Kingdom left free movement: its nationals fall under third-country rules, except for acquired rights. Our guide to work permits for EU citizens covers the special cases.

The agreement of 11 April 1983 taxes the salary in France. The employer withholds no tax if the worker has handed over, before the first day of work and then every year before 1 January, the French tax residence certificate (form 2041-AS, then the prefilled 2041-ASK). Without it, withholding is mandatory. The worker must return home as a rule every day, at least four days a week full-time, and France pays the cantons 4.5% of the payroll. The employer forwards the certificate to the cantonal administration and keeps a list of its cross-border staff.

Geneva is not in the 1983 agreement: the salary is taxed at source in Geneva, at the ordinary rate, withheld by the employer. Each year the canton pays the Ain and Haute-Savoie departments a compensation of 3.5% of the gross payroll of cross-border workers.

The worker is taxed in Germany. The Swiss employer withholds at most 4.5% of gross salary, on presentation of the residence certificate from the Finanzamt (Gre-1 for the first year, renewed afterwards). The status is lost if the person does not return home on more than 60 working days a year for professional reasons; telework days at home do not count as non-return days.

Since the 2020 agreement, in force on 17 July 2023 and applicable from 2024, two regimes. New cross-border workers, who entered the market after 17 July 2023, bear a Swiss withholding equal to 80% of the ordinary withholding rate, then are taxed in Italy with a credit for the Swiss tax. Old cross-border workers, active in Graubünden, Ticino or Valais between 31 December 2018 and 17 July 2023, remain taxed in Switzerland only, and the cantons pay 40% of the revenue to Italy until tax year 2033. In both cases, the tax cross-border worker lives in a municipality within 20 km of the border and returns home in principle every day.

No cross-border regime since 2007: the salary is subject to ordinary Swiss withholding tax, and the Confederation pays 12.5% of the revenue to Austria.

Ordinary rule of EU Regulation 883/2004: from 25% of activity performed in the country of residence, the employee is insured there, and the Swiss employer must contribute to the foreign system, often more expensive. The multilateral agreement of 1 July 2023, signed by France, Germany, Austria, Italy and Liechtenstein, allows Swiss affiliation to be kept up to 49.9% of telework. Condition: the employer requests an A1 certificate from its AHV compensation fund via the ALPS platform, valid for three years at most, renewable, and retroactive for three months at most.

The amendment to the Franco-Swiss convention, in force since 24 July 2025 and applicable from 1 January 2026, taxes in the employer’s state up to 40% of telework per calendar year, with 40% of the taxes collected paid back to the state of residence. Up to ten days of temporary missions count in the quota. Above 40%, the ordinary rules of the convention apply from the first telework day. The cantons ask the employer to certify the telework rate.

The 2024 protocol, in force since 9 February 2026 and applicable retroactively from 1 January 2024, allows up to 25% of telework per calendar year without changing the tax regime or the cross-border status.

For Germany, telework days do not call the cross-border status into question, and the worker is taxed in Germany anyway; the Confederation recommends attending the Swiss workplace at least once a week. For Austria, no special regime exists.

The Confederation recommends stating explicitly the applicable labour law in the contract: without that clause, the application of Swiss law can be challenged if a significant share of the work is done abroad. Set the telework rate in writing and keep count of the days.

As long as the cross-border worker works mainly in Switzerland, they are affiliated to Swiss insurance and the employer contributes normally. The cantonal minimum wage and collective agreements apply by place of work, not domicile: see our guide to the minimum wage by canton.

Place-of-work principle: the cross-border worker must insure in Switzerland. Residents of France, Germany, Austria and Italy may ask to remain insured in their country, through a formal exemption request to the authority of the canton of work within three months of the start of the contract; a tacit option is not valid, and a worker who does not affiliate in time can be assigned to an insurer with a surcharge. Inform the new hire at signing.

A cross-border worker who loses their job receives unemployment benefits from their state of residence, under its conditions, although they contributed in Switzerland. Switzerland reimburses that state three months of benefits, five if the person worked more than twelve of the last twenty-four months in Switzerland. The employer provides the international certificate requested by the foreign fund.

It applies to any position in an occupation where unemployment exceeds 5%, whether the intended candidate is a cross-border worker or not: see the 2026 list of occupations concerned.

A candidate from Haute-Savoie targeting Geneva, a Lombard targeting Ticino: the recruiter sees the canton sought, the workload, the telework wished and the expected salary. In our barometer, 82% of candidates targeting Geneva live in France.

Salary, location, workload, telework: the recruiter proposes, the candidate accepts or declines. Telework thresholds are discussed before signing, not after.

Licorn’s agent suggests relevant openings to candidates, including cross-border workers in a job who keep listening. Our guide for recruiters explains the rest.