Switzerland — Work Calendar, Salary and VAT Reference

Switzerland operates a five-day workweek with a typical full-time schedule of forty to forty-two hours, depending on the canton and sector. The country's federal structure produces meaningful variation in employment law between French-speaking, German-speaking and Italian-speaking cantons, and a Zurich employment contract may differ in several practical respects from a Geneva or Lugano contract for an otherwise identical role.

Switzerland is not a member of the European Union but maintains bilateral agreements with the EU that govern free movement of workers between Switzerland and EU/EFTA member states. Cross-border workers who live in France, Germany or Italy and work in Switzerland are a meaningful share of the Swiss labour force, particularly in Geneva, Basel and Ticino.

Statutory paid leave starts at four weeks for adult employees and five weeks for those under twenty or over fifty. Many employers grant five weeks as a default contractual benefit. Annual leave is usually taken in two larger blocks, one in summer and one around Christmas or New Year, with shorter breaks distributed during the year.

Switzerland has one federal public holiday (Swiss National Day on 1 August) plus a varying list of cantonal holidays that can range from seven to fifteen per year depending on the canton. Major widely-observed dates include New Year's Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Ascension, Whit Monday, Christmas Day and Saint Stephen's Day on 26 December, but the exact list is set at the cantonal level.

Catholic-majority cantons recognise additional religious feast days such as Corpus Christi, Assumption and All Saints' Day, while predominantly Protestant cantons observe fewer religious holidays but may include Reformation Day. The practical difference between cantons can be three or four extra paid days per year, which is significant for cross-canton workforce planning.

Substitute days when a holiday falls on a weekend are not granted in most cantons. The Swiss summer holiday window (mid-July to mid-August) is observed but less complete than in France or Italy, and most offices remain operational at reduced capacity rather than fully closing.

Swiss payroll combines federal income tax, cantonal income tax and municipal income tax, producing significant variation in the effective tax rate by location. The same gross salary in Zug or Schwyz will produce a meaningfully higher net than in Geneva or Vaud due to differing cantonal tax rates, and this difference is one of the most important factors in location decisions for high-income employees.

Employee social contributions (AHV/IV/EO for old-age, disability and income compensation, plus unemployment insurance) total approximately 6.4 percent of gross salary, which is low by EU standards. Health insurance is mandatory but paid privately to a chosen insurer rather than through payroll, and is not deducted from salary; this often surprises foreign employees evaluating a Swiss offer.

The Swiss occupational pension system (the second pillar) is mandatory for most employees and contributions are split roughly equally between employer and employee. Total pension contribution rates depend on age and salary, ranging from approximately seven percent to eighteen percent of insured salary. Including the employer's share, the total payroll cost in Switzerland is typically twenty to twenty-five percent above gross salary.

Switzerland applies a standard VAT rate of 8.1 percent (raised from 7.7 percent in 2024 to fund pension reforms), a reduced rate of 2.6 percent (food, books, newspapers, medication) and a special rate of 3.8 percent for accommodation services. The standard rate is dramatically lower than EU neighbours, and Swiss VAT planning is generally less complex from a rate perspective.

Swiss invoice content requirements are similar to the EU directive but governed by Swiss law (LTVA / MWSTG) rather than the EU framework. Cross-border supplies into the EU are treated as exports under EU VAT rules, and Swiss businesses selling to EU B2C customers must consider VAT registration in the destination country or use the EU's IOSS scheme for low-value goods.

The Swiss VAT registration threshold is one hundred thousand CHF in annual worldwide turnover. Above the threshold, registration is mandatory regardless of where the customer is located, and quarterly or annual returns become the standard reporting cycle.

When recruiting in Switzerland, evaluate cantonal tax rates as a real component of the offer competitiveness. The same gross salary can produce twenty percent more after-tax income in Zug than in Geneva, which materially affects whether a candidate accepts.

Confirm holiday entitlement and the specific cantonal calendar in writing at the offer stage. Two candidates working for the same Swiss company in different cantons can have meaningfully different paid-day-off counts in any given year.

If your business sells to Swiss customers, factor the customs and VAT treatment into pricing. Switzerland is outside the EU customs union, so goods crossing the border require declarations and incur Swiss import VAT, payable by the importer regardless of the seller's VAT registration status in any EU country.