AHV/IV for Au pairs

My husband and I will be hosting an Au pair in the near future and I want to know whether we will have to register the Au pair at the social security office and pay her contributions. Do you have any information on this?

In Switzerland Au pairs – like other employees – are entitled to social security. That means that an Au pair aged 18 years old or older must be registered with your cantonal social security office. As their employer, the onus rests on you to make sure that your Au pair is registered, that their income (including lodging and board) is declared, and that social security contributions are paid.

Unlike those employed by a business, who are only required to register for social security if they earn more than 2300 Swiss francs annually, home-based workers like Au pairs pay social security contributions regardless of what they earn.

Because Au pairs generally do not receive a high salary and work primarily for room and board, careful attention must be paid to the estimates used by the social security office to calculate the part of their salary which is paid out as board.

The cost of a breakfast is estimated at CHF 3.50, lunch at CHF 10.00, dinner at CHF 8.00 and lodging at CHF 11.50 per night. So the social security office will calculate the portion of your Au pair's salary which is paid in the form of room and board at CHF 33.00 per day. Social security contributions will be levied on this sum as well as the Au pair’s monetary compensation.

I have searched the Internet and cannot find a Zurich au pair salary contribution statement calculator or spread sheet anywhere.

An au pair just started to work for me and I need to know what to pay her and also what to pay for her social contributions and insurances and also I believe I need to sort out withholding tax too.

Do you have any more info about this or any tools on your website which maybe I did not find?

Hi there,

In the Canton of Zurich, the guideline minimum net wage for au pairs is 700 Swiss francs for a small household and 800 Swiss francs for a large household.

You can deduct the following costs from the au pair's net wage: Withholding tax (for au pairs aged 19 or older); half of the au pair's compulsory health insurance premium; half of the au pair's compulsory old age and survivors insurance contribution and occupational pension fund contribution (these only apply to au pair's above the age of 18); half of the au pair's compulsory unemployment insurance premium; the au pair's full compulsory non-occupational accident insurance premium.

In addition to the net wage, the gross wage must include the portions of the au pair's health insurance premiums, OASI and pension fund contributions and unemployment insurance premiums which must be covered by the employer. It must also include the occupational accident insurance premium, which you as the employer pay in full.

The gross wage must also include the tuition for the au pair's local language course (min. 120 hours) and transportation to and from the place of study. It must also include room and board. The social security office uses an imputed room and board value of 990 francs per month (33 francs per day).

So the gross wage which must be declared on social security forms must include the net wage, employer social security contributions, half of health insurance premiums, the cost of language tuition and total imputed room and board costs.

Like other employees, au pairs are entitled to 4 weeks of paid holiday per 1 year of work.

As a general guideline, it is helpful to estimate the total cost of hiring an au pair as equal to the cantonal minimum net wage plus 1000 francs. This is realistic based on the current costs of health insurance, transportation, language courses and providing room and board. For a household in the Canton of Zurich, the total cost of hiring an au pair would be approximately 1700 or 1800 francs, depending on the size of the household.

You can find information about work permits for au pairs here:
https://awa.zh.ch/internet/volkswirtschaftsdirektion/awa/en/arbeitsbewilligungen/eu_27_efta/aupair.html
https://awa.zh.ch/internet/volkswirtschaftsdirektion/awa/en/arbeitsbewilligungen/croatia/aupair_hausangestellte.html
https://awa.zh.ch/internet/volkswirtschaftsdirektion/awa/en/arbeitsbewilligungen/formulare_merkblaetter.html

You can find contact information for the tax office of the Canton of Zurich here:
https://www.stadt-zuerich.ch/fd/de/index/steuern/quellensteuer/auslaendische_arbeitnehmer/arbeitgeber.html

You can find social security information and forms for the Canton of Zurich here:
https://www.svazurich.ch/internet/de/home/private/hausangestellte.html

Best regards from Moneyguru

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