Minimum wage in Switzerland in 2026: the amounts canton by canton, the exceptions and the sanctions for every job

The 2026 amount has applied since 1 January (24.48 in 2025). It covers anyone who “habitually” works in the canton, meaning exclusively, mainly or regularly, even if the employer is based in another canton or abroad. Paid in 13 instalments, the base hourly wage may go down to 22.70 francs. For a full-time job, the OCIRT calculates 4,795.05 francs a month over 12 months. Agriculture and floriculture have their own minimum, 18.07 francs in 2026. If a contract or a CLA provides less, the cantonal minimum applies.

The 2026 amount (22.00 in 2025) is a base wage: with four weeks of holiday, the employer actually owes 24.14 francs an hour, holiday and public holiday supplements included, and 24.65 francs with five weeks. For a 40-hour week, the monthly minimum is 3,847.93 francs. The criterion is the habitual place of work in the canton, whatever the company’s head office; workers posted from abroad are covered during their assignment in Basel.

The Jura minimum wage is mandatory and applies to employment relationships carried out in the canton. It excludes holiday and public holiday pay, which come on top. If the employer pays a 13th salary, its pro rata share counts towards the 21.40 francs. No automatic indexation: the Government may adjust the amount according to the cost of living, the economy and the labour market.

The first canton to apply a minimum wage, on 4 August 2017, after the Federal Supreme Court gave the green light. The law sets a base of 20 francs, indexed every year to the Swiss consumer price index of August (21.31 in 2025, 21.35 in 2026). The wage compared with the minimum is the AHV-relevant wage, 13th salary included, but without holiday and public holiday pay. Agriculture, viticulture and horticulture have their own minimum of 18.15 francs, or 3,932 francs a month.

The Ticino law sets the minimum per sector at 55% of the national median wage, within a range that the Council of State fixes by decree: 20.00 to 20.50 francs since 1 December 2024, unchanged on 1 January 2026 for lack of inflation. On 20 April 2026, the Grand Council adopted a new law by 68 votes to 4: 20.50 to 21 francs from 1 January 2027, 21 to 21.50 in 2028, 21.75 to 22.25 in 2029, then indexation from 2030. The cantonal minimum will take precedence over CLAs, which will have to align by the end of 2029.

Born of the Young Socialists’ initiative “Existenzsichernde Löhne jetzt!”, the municipal regulation has applied since early 2026 to anyone working on the city’s territory. A vote asked for its repeal: 67.6% of voters refused. Unions estimate that 3,000 employees are concerned, a figure business circles dispute.

Voters in both cities had accepted these minimums on 18 June 2023, by 69% and 65%. The Zurich administrative court had annulled them; the Federal Supreme Court overruled it on 12 May 2026, in the name of municipal autonomy. The regulations come back to life, and it is up to the two city executives to set the date of entry into force. According to SRF, the ruling is a leading decision for all municipalities in the canton of Zurich.

Still according to SRF, municipal initiatives in Bern, Biel and Schaffhausen are blocked by appeals from business associations. Cantonal law remains decisive: a city can only introduce a minimum if its canton allows it.

Geneva, Neuchâtel and Basel-Stadt cover people who habitually work in the canton; Jura, employment relationships carried out on its territory. A Vaud company employing someone in Geneva must pay the Geneva minimum; a Geneva company employing someone in Nyon is not bound by it. An occasional visit to the canton does not trigger the minimum, Basel specifies.

The employee’s domicile does not matter: a cross-border worker employed in Geneva, Basel or Ticino is entitled to the canton’s minimum. Basel-Stadt extends the rule to workers posted by a foreign employer, in the name of free movement. Our guide living in France and working in Switzerland covers the rest of the status.

The minimum is an hourly rate: it applies to any workload and any type of contract, including temporary work and on-call work. The only quantified exception: Basel-Stadt exempts on-call work up to 70 hours per calendar year with the same employer.

In Geneva and Neuchâtel, the cantonal minimum prevails over a CLA or a contract that provides less. In Jura and Basel-Stadt, it is the reverse: sectors covered by an extended CLA or a standard contract setting minimum wages escape the cantonal law, and their minimum applies. Ticino is switching to the precedence of the cantonal minimum with its new law. This is precisely the point the coming federal vote is meant to settle.

In Neuchâtel, a job whose wage does not exceed 2,500 francs per calendar year, exempt from AHV contributions, escapes the minimum. Basel-Stadt only covers activities subject to AHV, so from the 1 January following the 17th birthday.

Excluded everywhere: in Geneva (art. 39J LIRT), in Neuchâtel (apprenticeship contract with a training company), in Jura (people in training), in Basel-Stadt (apprentices do not fall under the law). Their pay follows sector recommendations.

Only internships with a training purpose are exempt: an internship provided for by a recognised course, an admission internship for a university of applied sciences, a pre-apprenticeship. Geneva says so clearly, Neuchâtel keeps a list of conditions annexed to its regulation. Basel-Stadt sets a duration: six months at most, twelve with an apprenticeship contract or a university admission already signed. A contract called “internship” with no training content remains a job at the minimum wage.

Geneva excludes under-18s and, since 8 April 2026, allows a wage of 75% of the minimum for summer jobs under conditions. Neuchâtel exempts holiday jobs of under-25s in training, for at most three months per calendar year.

Jura excludes the employer, their spouse and relatives in the direct line. Geneva excludes volunteers. Professional or social integration measures (unemployment insurance, disability insurance, social assistance, asylum) are exempt in all five cantons.

Geneva and Neuchâtel apply a reduced minimum (18.07 and 18.15 francs). Jura refers to its agricultural standard contract. Basel-Stadt, conversely, applies the ordinary minimum: the wages of its agricultural standard contract are only default values. Au pairs fall under separate regimes.

The OCIRT checks on complaint and on its own initiative. It can require the retroactive adjustment of wages, charge the inspection costs and impose an administrative fine of up to 30,000 francs, doubled for a repeat offence (art. 39N LIRT). Companies in breach are published on a list for 24 months, and those that signed the Geneva usages can lose access to public contracts.

Checks have taken place since 1 January 2023. The employer must produce wage lists, contracts, time records and payslips. Suspected breaches are reported to the public prosecutor, who can impose a fine of up to 30,000 francs (§ 9 MiLoG).

The Neuchâtel office for labour relations and conditions checks companies. In Jura, an employee who believes they are not receiving the minimum takes the case to the labour court in Porrentruy.

A wage below the legal minimum remains due. Wage claims are time-barred after five years (art. 128 para. 3 CO), and the employee cannot waive them during the contract or in the month following its end (art. 341 CO). A clause “lower wage accepted” is void.

A position based in Geneva, Basel, Neuchâtel, Delémont or Lugano falls under the local minimum, even for a Vaud or foreign company. A multi-site position falls under the canton where the person mainly works.

In Jura and Basel-Stadt, an extended CLA with minimum wages replaces the cantonal law; in Geneva and Neuchâtel, it cannot go below it. In both cases, the collectively agreed wage is often higher than the legal minimum: that is the one that applies.

For a monthly salary, divide by the contractual hours of the month (52 weeks divided by 12, or 4.33 weeks), including one twelfth of the 13th. For an hourly wage, isolate the base wage before holiday and public holiday pay. Night and Sunday supplements do not count.

Geneva, Neuchâtel and Basel-Stadt publish the following year’s amount in the autumn. Geneva has already announced 24.73 francs for 2027; Ticino will move to 20.50-21 francs. A contract at the minimum must be adjusted on 1 January, without an addendum if the clause refers to the legal minimum.

The minimum is a floor, not a hiring wage: our job market barometer shows that candidates aim well above it. Stating the range in the ad avoids pointless interviews, and remains the rule for positions subject to the job vacancy notification requirement, where minimum-wage occupations are concentrated.

Each profile states the target annual salary, the workload, the location and the conditions. Recruiters looking for a profile in a canton see these expectations before writing, and only offer what they are ready to pay.

The proposal comes with the salary, the location and the workload. The candidate accepts or declines. No blind negotiation, no ad without a salary.

Our job pages by canton recall the minimum wage in force next to the region’s median salary and our candidates’ expectations. Our guide for recruiters explains the rest.