Social security contributions when working after retirement

I reached retirement age two years ago and began receiving my pension at that time. Since then, I have become employed again and earn a salary on top of receiving my pension.

You can imagine my surprise when I saw that my company had deducted social security contributions from my salary. Is it correct that I have to pay social security contributions when I am already a pensioner? Will my pension go up because of the extra contributions I am making?

Your employer is correct in deducting social security contributions because all employees in Switzerland are legally required to pay these contributions.

However, because you have reached legal retirement age, social security contributions should only be levied on the portion of your salary which exceeds 1400 Swiss francs per month (16,800 francs per year). If you work for multiple employers, that deduction applies to each salary individually.

Unfortunately, because your pension is fixed from the time you begin to receive it, all the extra contributions you make after claiming your pension will not benefit you in the way of a higher pension. The money you spend on the old-age insurance portion of contributions is a “write off” as far as your pension is concerned.