Swiss payslip explained: understanding every line of your salary statement, from gross to net

This is the salary agreed, customary or set by a standard contract or collective agreement (art. 322 CO), paid at the end of each month unless otherwise agreed or customary (art. 323 CO). In cantons and cities with a minimum wage, it cannot fall below the hourly minimum; our guide to the minimum wage by canton gives the 2026 amounts.

No law requires it: it is due if it appears in the contract, the collective agreement or company practice, usually in December or in two instalments, and pro rata for the months worked in the year of arrival or departure. It is subject to the same contributions as the salary. Our guide to the 13th salary in Switzerland details the cases.

If not compensated with time off, it is paid at the normal salary plus at least a quarter, unless a written agreement, standard contract or collective agreement provides otherwise (art. 321c CO). It appears on a separate line, with the number of hours and the rate. For part-timers, the reference is your contractual percentage; our guide to part-time work explains the rule.

If you are paid by the hour with a highly variable workload, the employer may include holidays in the hourly wage, provided the holiday share appears, as a percentage and in francs, in the contract and on every statement (art. 329d CO; SECO FAQ on holidays). A mention “holidays included” without an amount is not enough, and the employer then risks paying the holidays a second time.

A special payment at Christmas or at the end of the financial year is due if it was agreed, and its proportional share on departure only if that was agreed too (art. 322d CO). Almost one employee in three (32.6%) received a bonus in 2024, worth CHF 11,967 per year on average (FSO). Gratuities are part of the AVS-relevant salary (art. 5 para. 2 LAVS): contributions are due on them.

The employer reimburses all expenses imposed by the performance of the work, at cost or through a flat rate that covers them all; a clause leaving them to you is void (art. 327a CO). Expenses are not salary: they appear at the bottom of the payslip, after the net, and are not subject to contributions.

The total contribution is 10.6% of the relevant salary (AVS 8.7%, AI 1.4%, APG 0.5%), of which 5.3% is withheld from your salary and 5.3% paid by the employer (leaflet 2.01, as at 1 January 2026; art. 5 and 13 LAVS). There is no ceiling. The obligation starts on 1 January after your 17th birthday; a salary not exceeding CHF 2,500 per year with the same employer is only subject to contributions at your request.

The contribution is 2.2% of salary, shared equally, up to the maximum insured earnings in accident insurance, i.e. CHF 148,200 per year or CHF 12,350 per month (art. 3 LACI; leaflet 2.08). Since 1 January 2023, no unemployment contribution is levied on the part of the salary above that amount. It also stops at the end of the month in which you reach the reference age.

Premiums for insurance against occupational accidents and diseases are paid by the employer; those for non-occupational accident insurance (ANP) are borne by the employee, unless a more favourable agreement applies (art. 91 LAA). The employer withholds your share from the salary of the month or the following month. You are covered for non-occupational accidents from 8 hours of work per week with an employer (art. 13 OLAA), on insured earnings capped at CHF 148,200 (art. 22 OLAA). The rate depends on the insurer and the sector: it is on the payslip, not in the law.

Compulsory insurance starts above CHF 22,680 of annual salary with the same employer (art. 7 LPP) and covers the coordinated salary, i.e. the salary between CHF 26,460 and CHF 90,720, with a minimum of CHF 3,780 (art. 8 LPP; FSIO key figures, unchanged on 1 January 2026). Retirement credits amount to 7% of the coordinated salary from 25 to 34, 10% from 35 to 44, 15% from 45 to 54 and 18% from 55 to 65 (art. 16 LPP), plus risk and cost premiums. The employer must pay at least as much as all employees together (art. 66 LPP); many funds do better. The exact amount is in the rules and on your annual pension certificate.

Without insurance, the employer pays the salary for a limited time in case of illness: three weeks in the first year, then a period set equitably or according to the cantonal scale (art. 324a CO). Many employers take out daily allowance insurance that extends this cover; the premium is then often shared, and the line “IJM” or “KTG” appears on the payslip. Its split depends on the contract or collective agreement.

Workers without a settlement permit who live in Switzerland (art. 83 LIFD) and cross-border commuters, weekly residents and short-term residents living abroad (art. 91 LIFD) are taxed at source: the employer withholds the tax from the salary and pays it to the canton, according to a cantonal scale that depends on marital status, children and the spouse’s activity (FTA). Spouses one of whom is Swiss or holds a C permit are not taxed at source. Our guide to hiring a cross-border worker covers the special case of French commuters.

Residents taxed at source whose gross income reaches CHF 120,000 in the year move to subsequent ordinary assessment, which then remains in place (art. 89 LIFD; art. 9 OIS). Below that, they can request it until 31 March of the following year, with no way back (art. 89a LIFD). Non-residents who earn at least 90% of their worldwide income in Switzerland, the quasi-residents, can also request it within the same deadline (art. 99a LIFD; art. 14 OIS). The tax withheld is credited.

The child allowance is at least CHF 215 per month up to age 16, the education allowance at least CHF 268 until the end of education and at the latest at 25 (art. 3 and 5 LAFam, amounts in force since 1 January 2025); cantons may provide more. They are paid with the salary but financed by the employer’s contributions to its compensation fund: only the canton of Valais has an employee contribution (FSIO, 22 October 2025). They are not subject to AVS contributions.

The employer may only set off the salary against a claim on you to the extent that the salary is attachable, except for damage caused intentionally (art. 323b para. 2 CO). Agreements obliging you to use your salary in the employer’s interest are void (para. 3). An advance granted during the month (art. 323 para. 4) appears as a deduction from the net.

Accommodation, meals, a company car for private use: these benefits in kind are part of the AVS-relevant salary (art. 5 para. 2 LAVS) and are added to the gross for the calculation of contributions, then deducted from the net since they are not paid in cash. This is the line that surprises most on a first payslip with a company car.

The salary is paid at the end of each month, unless shorter deadlines are agreed or customary (art. 323 CO), and a statement is given to the employee (art. 323b para. 1 CO). The law does not impose a form: paper or electronic, as long as you can keep it. Keep them: they are needed for unemployment, the pension fund, the lease and the loan.

In addition to the monthly statements, the employer must give you a written certificate of its payments, the salary certificate, for your tax return (art. 127 LIFD). The gross total, contributions and net shown on it must match the sum of your twelve or thirteen payslips.

The AVS/AI/APG rate (5.3%) and the unemployment rate (1.1%, zero on the part above CHF 12,350); the LPP basis (the coordinated salary, not the gross) and the share withheld from you, to compare with the rules; overtime and its supplement; the 13th salary pro rata in the year of arrival. A frequent error: the unemployment contribution levied on the whole of a salary above the ceiling.

Report the discrepancy to the employer in writing with the calculation. Salary claims are time-barred after five years (art. 128 item 3 CO): an undue deduction can be claimed over that period. For miscalculated social contributions, the compensation fund and the pension fund correct on the basis of the employer’s annual salary declaration.

The Swiss median salary was CHF 7,024 gross per month in 2024, CHF 7,502 in the Zurich region and CHF 5,708 in Ticino; a low wage, below CHF 4,683, concerned 10.8% of jobs (FSO, ESS 2024). On Licorn, candidates expect a median salary of CHF 72,000 per year. Our job market barometer gives the benchmarks by age and sector, and our guide to getting a pay rise the way to go about it.

Desired gross annual salary, working hours, location, remote work, type of contract: these conditions appear in your profile, and that is what made our job market barometer possible. A recruiter who contacts you has read them.

Recruiters send proposals to the profiles whose conditions match the position, salary included. You do not learn the gross at the third interview; you know it before replying.

An annual salary over twelve or thirteen months does not give the same monthly figure: CHF 78,000 is CHF 6,500 over twelve months and CHF 6,000 over thirteen. Always ask for the number of payments and the LPP share withheld: these are the two lines that change the net for the same gross.