How do Switzerland working time and leave rules work in 2026?

The working-time cap comes from the Swiss Labour Act (ArG), Article 9. The 45 hours cap applies to:

• Office and administrative workers
• Technical and scientific staff
• Sales staff in large retail businesses
• Industrial workers in factories

Workers in retail, hospitality, and related sectors outside large stores fall under the 50-hour cap instead. The ArG also applies to employers with commercial premises. Purely agricultural and household employment is excluded.

How averaging works

The 45 hours limit can be averaged over a period agreed in writing. Temporary overrun is permitted up to a defined tolerance (usually two hours per week) provided the excess is compensated within the averaging window. Averaging agreements must be in writing and time-limited.

No individual opt-out

Unlike the UK, Switzerland does not allow individual employees to sign away the weekly hours limit. The cap is hard. Any contractual term attempting to waive it is not valid. Overtime above the limit must be compensated in time off or pay.

The general rule for daily rest is 11 consecutive hours between the end of one working day and the start of the next, consistent with the EU Working Time Directive baseline. Sunday work requires special authorisation under the Swiss Labour Act. Most office workers are not entitled to Sunday work without a justified reason and cantonal approval.

Young workers under 18 have shorter daily and weekly maximums and are subject to additional restrictions on night and Sunday work under the Youth Labour Protection Ordinance.

The entitlement comes from Code of Obligations Art. 329a. The 20 days equates to four weeks for a five-day worker.

How public holidays interact

Annual leave and public holidays are separate in Switzerland. Public holidays are not deducted from the 20 days entitlement. If a public holiday falls on a working day, it is granted on top of the leave entitlement. This is the opposite of the UK bundled model.

Carry-over rules

Unused annual leave must be taken before the end of the leave year if possible. If the employer prevents the employee from taking leave during the year, carry-over is permitted. In practice, many Swiss employers allow a carry-over of up to five days to the following year by written agreement. Unused leave at termination must be paid out.

Holiday pay calculation

Holiday pay is calculated on the basis of the employee's normal contractual salary. Variable components such as commissions and bonuses are included in the calculation when they form part of regular remuneration. The reference period is typically the 12 months preceding the leave.

Enhanced market practice

Most large Swiss employers in professional services and technology grant 25 days as the standard, with some granting 27 or 30 days. A competitive benefit package in Switzerland typically starts at 25 days regardless of the statutory floor.

The lack of a federal holiday framework means two employees in different cantons can have very different public holiday entitlements. Employers must apply the public holiday rules of the canton where the employee physically works.

Practical note for employers

When hiring across multiple Swiss cantons, the public holiday calendar must be applied per location. An employee in Geneva observes different holidays than an employee in Zurich. Payroll and leave management systems must be configured per canton, not per country. This is a common compliance gap for employers new to Switzerland.

Maternity leave

The 14 weeks entitlement comes from the Federal Act on Income Compensation (EOG). The mother must have been insured under the AHV/AVS scheme for at least nine months before the birth. The leave must start on the day of birth. Taking the full leave is strongly encouraged. Returning to work before the end of the eighth week is not permitted.

The pay rate is 80% of the average salary earned in the 12 months before the birth, capped at CHF 220 per calendar day. For a full-time employee, the weekly equivalent at cap is CHF 1,540 (7 days at CHF 220). Payments are made through the compensation fund, not by the employer directly. The employer is reimbursed by the fund for any advances paid.

Paternity leave

Fathers and co-parents have a right to 2 weeks of paid paternity leave under the same EOG framework. The leave must be taken within the first six months after the birth. It can be taken as a block or in individual days. Pay rules mirror maternity leave: 80% of average salary, capped at CHF 220 per day, funded through the compensation fund.

Adoption leave

Parents adopting a child under 4 years old are entitled to the same two-week leave as paternity leave under rules introduced in 2023. The same pay conditions and compensation fund mechanism apply.

Unpaid parental leave

There is no federal right to unpaid parental leave beyond the statutory maternity and paternity entitlements. Some cantons and collective agreements provide additional rights. Granting extended unpaid parental leave is increasingly common in large Swiss employers as a voluntary benefit.

Market practice

Competitive Swiss employers in professional services typically offer enhanced maternity pay to bridge the gap between the capped allowance and full salary, and extend paternity leave to four weeks or more. Parental leave policies are becoming a significant differentiator in Swiss talent markets.

Switzerland has no single national sick-pay rate. The obligation under Code of Obligations Art. 324a is to continue paying the full contractual salary during illness for a reasonable period that increases with length of service. The only fixed statutory floor is 3 weeks of continued pay in the first year of employment.

Cantonal scales for continued pay

Three cantonal scales are commonly adopted in Swiss employment contracts. The Berne scale is the most widely used:

Loss-of-earnings insurance

Most Swiss employers take out a collective daily allowance insurance (Taggeldversicherung) policy. This is not compulsory under federal law but is common practice. The policy typically extends coverage to 720 days of illness pay at 80% of salary, which far exceeds the continued-pay obligation. The cost is usually shared equally between employer and employee. Where such a policy exists, the employer's Art. 324a obligation is discharged and the insurer pays directly.

What the employer pays

During the continued-pay period, the employer pays the employee's full contractual salary as normal. There is no government reimbursement mechanism. The cost falls entirely on the employer unless a Taggeldversicherung policy is in place. Including a collective daily allowance insurance in the employment package is strongly recommended for any Swiss hire.

Real HR and legal experts manage your Switzerland working-time obligations, from the cantonal public-holiday calendar to the correct sick-pay scale for the employee's location and tenure. An actual person, not a chatbot or a pooled queue. There is no setup fee and no exit fee. Employer cost passes through at cost, itemised on every invoice.

The cantonal dimension of Swiss employment means that two hires in different cantons can face different holiday calendars, different sick-pay scales, and different cantonal tax rates. Teamed configures each engagement to the correct canton from day one. You do not need to track it yourself. Teamed is your employer of record until it isn't, and the Crossover Calculator tells you when that crossover point arrives.

EOR payroll, contractor onboarding, and entity setup all live on one platform. Run the Crossover Calculator to see the month your Switzerland hire is ready to graduate to your own entity. Start from the Switzerland hiring overview. Each guide takes one layer of Swiss employment law.

Key sources: ICLG Switzerland Employment Law 2026, Swiss Federal DFAE maternity and paternity leave guide, and SECO State Secretariat for Economic Affairs.

1. Confirm the employee's canton

   The canton where the employee physically works determines the public holiday calendar, the sick-pay scale, and the cantonal income tax rate. Get this right before any contract is drafted.

2. Set the working-hours category

   Confirm whether the role falls under the standard cap or the alternative cap. Office and technical roles sit under the standard cap. Some commercial and service roles sit under a different limit.

3. Configure annual leave and public holidays

   Annual leave and public holidays are separate in Switzerland. Set up the payroll to grant both. Apply the correct cantonal holiday list for the employee's location.

4. Arrange daily allowance insurance

   The employer's continued-pay obligation is real cost, not a government-funded benefit. A collective daily allowance insurance policy transfers most of the risk to the insurer and is standard practice.

5. Run payroll with canton-level configuration

   Swiss payroll must calculate AHV, ALV, and BVG contributions alongside withholding tax at the correct cantonal rate. These rates are not uniform across the country.