Paid holidays and public holidays in your Swiss job: your rights from the first day to the last

The employer grants at least four weeks of holiday per year of service, and at least five weeks to employees up to the age of 20 (art. 329a para. 1 CO). The entitlement is counted in weeks of your own schedule: part-time on three days a week, four weeks are twelve days, not twenty. When the year of service is incomplete, holidays are set in proportion to the length of the employment (art. 329a para. 3 CO): on a five-day week, twenty days divided by twelve months give 1.67 days per month worked (City of Lausanne). According to SECO, collective agreements and individual contracts often provide five weeks from age 50; our guide to finding a job after 50 covers this.

The employer sets the dates of holidays, taking the employee’s wishes into account as far as compatible with the interests of the business (art. 329c para. 2 CO). Holidays are generally granted during the corresponding year of service and include at least two consecutive weeks (art. 329c para. 1). SECO adds that dates must be set early enough, as a rule at least three months ahead, that children’s school holidays must be taken into account, that a third consecutive week must be granted if it does not concretely harm the business, and that the employer may impose holidays during an annual closure.

As long as the employment relationship lasts, holidays may not be replaced by cash or other benefits (art. 329d para. 2 CO). This is an absolutely mandatory rule (art. 361 CO): even if both sides agree, a balance cannot be converted into a bonus. The purpose of rest requires holidays to be taken in kind (SECO). Cash payment only occurs at the end of the contract, for the balance that could not be taken.

The employer pays the full wage for the holidays and fair compensation for wages in kind (art. 329d para. 1 CO): during holidays, the employee must not be paid less than if they had worked. Supplements for night, Sunday or public-holiday work are part of holiday pay when they are regular and lasting (ATF 132 III 172). For variable pay, such as a fixed salary plus commission, the average of the last twelve months or of another fair period is used (SECO).

If you are prevented from working through your own fault for more than one month in total in the year, the employer may reduce holidays by one twelfth for each full month of absence (art. 329b para. 1 CO). For illness, accident, a legal obligation or public office, through no fault of your own, the first month of absence leads to no reduction (art. 329b para. 2); the reduction only starts from the second full month (City of Lausanne). No reduction is possible for a pregnancy of up to two months, nor for maternity leave, the other parent’s leave, leave on the death of the mother, care leave or adoption leave (art. 329b para. 3).

An employee who falls ill during their holidays is entitled to make up the days concerned, in so far as the purpose of rest could not be achieved because of an accident or illness; if the impediment is known in advance, they may postpone dates already set (SECO). In practice this covers a hospital stay, immobilisation or an illness that prevents any rest, not a two-day cold; report the incapacity immediately and provide a medical certificate.

Holiday claims become time-barred after five years, the period running from the end of the year in which the holidays were due (SECO; art. 128 no. 3 CO). An untaken balance therefore does not vanish on 31 December, unless the contract provides a more favourable carry-over rule. A contract that cancelled the balance after a few months would breach the mandatory nature of art. 329a and 329c CO.

If you start on 1 September, you are entitled to four twelfths of the annual entitlement for the current year (art. 329a para. 3 CO), i.e. 6.67 days on a basis of twenty. Nothing stops you asking for more than the minimum: five weeks are common and six exist in some collective agreements; it is part of the offer, like the salary. In a part-time job, the entitlement is the same in weeks and converts into days according to your schedule. During the probation period, the entitlement already exists; the employer may simply postpone the taking of the days.

The Federal Supreme Court allows holiday pay to be included in the running wage only exceptionally, under three cumulative conditions: very irregular work, a clear and express mention of the share of the wage covering holidays in the written contract, and its indication on every payslip; the mere words “holidays included” are not enough, an amount or a percentage is required (ATF 129 III 493). In its judgment 4A_357/2022 of 30 January 2023, it ruled that a full-time job with a variable monthly wage is not irregular work, since time-recording software makes the calculation of the allowance possible; the employer had to pay the holiday pay on top, even though the employee had taken her holidays. SECO points out that an employer who omits these mentions risks paying twice. If you are paid by the hour, check that your payslips show the line “holiday pay 8.33%” or “10.64%”.

At the end of the employment relationship, holiday days earned and not taken are paid out in cash, since the ban in art. 329d para. 2 CO applies only during the contract (SECO). The calculation is pro rata to the months worked in the year of departure (art. 329a para. 3). Conversely, if you have taken more days than your pro rata entitlement, the employer may in principle deduct the excess from the last salary, unless it imposed those dates itself. The final statement, the work certificate and the pension fund’s leaving statement (see our guide to vested benefits) make up your leaving file.

During the notice period too, holidays should be taken in kind where possible: you may ask to take your balance, and the employer can only refuse by invoking a business necessity (SECO). The other way round, it depends on who gave notice: if you resigned, you can reasonably be expected to take your holidays; if the employer gave notice, you must first be able to look for a new job. The case law weighs the ratio between the length of the notice period and the balance: a short notice period and a large balance give a right to payment, a long notice period and a small balance make taking them in kind reasonable, with no fixed ratio, and never from one day to the next (SECO, FAQ on termination). If you are released from the duty to work, the Federal Supreme Court accepts that the balance is offset against the free time of the release, even without an express instruction, provided the length allows it and the job search remains the priority (ATF 128 III 271).

After notice has been given, the employer grants the employee the time needed to look for another job (art. 329 para. 3 CO). According to SECO, the usual practice is half a working day per week when needed, for job interviews rather than for writing applications; this half-day may be split into hours on request. On a monthly salary, these hours are paid by custom; on an hourly wage, only if the contract provides for it or under the conditions of art. 324a CO. This time is not taken from your holidays. If you are the one leaving, our template resignation letter lists what to mention, holiday balance included.

The employer grants the customary hours and days off, in addition to the weekly day off (art. 329 para. 1 and 3 CO): moving house, dealings with authorities, medical appointments that cannot be scheduled outside working hours, death or wedding of a close relative (SECO). Their length and pay are often specified by the collective agreement, the staff regulations or the contract; on a monthly salary, they are paid by custom.

Up to the age of 30, an employee who voluntarily holds management, supervisory or advisory functions in extracurricular youth activities, or follows the training required, is entitled to youth leave of at most one working week per year of service (art. 329e para. 1 CO). It is unpaid unless an agreement, standard contract or collective agreement is more favourable (para. 2), must be announced two months ahead in case of disagreement and cannot be carried over (para. 3).

After giving birth, a female employee is entitled to maternity leave of at least 14 weeks (art. 329f para. 1 CO), extended if the newborn is hospitalised (para. 2) and by two weeks if the other parent dies within six months (para. 3). The legal father, or the female employee who is the other legal parent, is entitled to the other parent’s leave of two weeks, to be taken within six months of the birth, in weeks or days (art. 329g). If the mother dies on the day of the birth or within the following 14 weeks, the other parent is entitled to 14 weeks of leave (art. 329g bis). These leaves are compensated by the loss-of-earnings scheme, not by the employer.

An employee is entitled to paid leave to care for a family member or partner with a health impairment, limited to the time needed, at most three days per case and ten days per year (art. 329h CO). If their child is seriously affected by illness or accident and they are entitled to the care allowance, they are entitled to care leave of at most 14 weeks within a framework period of 18 months, to be shared between both parents if both work (art. 329i).

An employee who takes in a child with a view to adoption is entitled to two weeks of adoption leave, to be taken during the first year after the child arrives, by one parent or shared, in days or weeks (art. 329j CO), under the conditions of art. 16t of the Loss of Earnings Compensation Act.

Check the number of weeks (four minimum, art. 329a CO), the calculation basis for part-time work, the carry-over rule and, for an hourly wage, the mention of a holiday-pay percentage in the contract. Ask whether the company closes at Christmas or in summer: those days will be imposed (SECO).

Months remaining in the year divided by twelve, multiplied by the annual entitlement (art. 329a para. 3 CO). Write down the result and compare it with the first holiday statement the employer gives you.

Request your holidays at least three months ahead, with at least two consecutive weeks once a year (art. 329c CO; SECO). Keep the written approvals and the balance statement; if you fall ill during your holidays, send the certificate immediately to have the days made up.

In your resignation letter or in reply to a dismissal, state your balance and propose to take it or to be paid for it, depending on the length of the notice period and your job search (SECO; ATF 128 III 271). Ask for the weekly half-day for job hunting (art. 329 para. 3 CO).

The final statement must pay out the days earned and not taken, at full pay including regular supplements (art. 329d CO; ATF 132 III 172). You have five years to claim a difference (art. 128 no. 3 CO), but doing so before signing a final settlement is simpler.

Gross annual salary, working percentage, location, remote work, type of contract: these conditions are in your profile and feed our job barometer. A recruiter who contacts you has read them.

One candidate in five is employed and passively open (barometer of 19 October 2026): they do not apply, but they receive proposals that respect their conditions. They choose their timing, including a leaving date that allows them to take or be paid their balance.

Two offers at the same salary are not worth the same with four or five weeks of holiday: one extra week is about 2% less working time for the same annual salary. Ask for the staff regulations with the contract, and have the number of weeks written into the contract itself.