Hiring a Nanny or a Cleaner in Basel
When we employed our first cleaner in Zurich, I thought paying her fairly was the whole job. It turned out that in Switzerland the family is the employer, with everything that comes with it. That discovery is how my company, Clino, started. This article is the guide I would have liked to read back then. The numbers are for Basel-Stadt in 2026.
Where to Find Help
Most families still find their nanny or cleaner by word of mouth: other parents at school or the Kita, neighbours and colleagues. Basel's expat and parents' groups on Facebook also work well too. Write exactly what you need: hours, days, languages, your neighbourhood. For babysitters and nannies, platforms like Babsy are another place to look.
One question decides a lot: who employs her? If an agency or a cleaning company sends someone and sends you an invoice, they are the employer and handle the insurance. If you pay her directly, you are the employer.
In the first call, ask about experience and references, which languages she speaks, the hourly wage she expects, and her permit. Without the right to work in Switzerland, you cannot employ her legally.
Babysitter, Nanny or Au Pair?
Babysitter: occasional evenings or afternoons, usually CHF 20 to 25 an hour. Young people up to 25 who earn no more than CHF 750 a year from you are the one exception to the social security rules below.
Nanny: regular hours, part-time or full-time, usually living in her own home. This is a proper job with a contract.
Au pair: a young person, 18 to 30, who lives with you as part of the family, helps for up to 30 hours a week, has a free day and attends a language course. She receives pocket money (CHF 600 to 700 a month is the usual recommendation), a room and meals. Au pairs from the EU/EFTA get a permit fairly easily; from other countries only through a licensed agency, between 18 and 25 and for at most a year.
A tip many parents miss: the childcare part of a nanny's wage is tax-deductible for children under 14, up to CHF 26,000 per child for the Basel-Stadt tax and CHF 25,800 for the federal tax. Cleaning and ironing are not.
The Rules in Basel-Stadt
You are an employer from the first franc
Social security (AHV). Register her with the Ausgleichskasse Basel-Stadt at Wettsteinplatz. Contributions are due on every wage, however small. The CHF 2,500 allowance you may have heard of does not apply to household staff. If her yearly wage stays under CHF 22,680, the simplified procedure covers social security and a flat 5% tax at source in one statement a year.
Accident insurance. Compulsory from the first hour, and it must be in place before she starts. From 8 hours a week with you, it also covers accidents in her free time.
Wage. Pay at least CHF 22.20 gross an hour, Basel's minimum wage, before holiday pay. From 5 hours a week, someone with four years' experience gets at least CHF 22.30, and CHF 24.55 with a Swiss vocational qualification.
Holidays. Four weeks a year; five for staff under 20 or from 50. With an hourly wage, add 8.33% holiday pay (10.64% for five weeks) and show it on the payslip.
Basel's standard contract. Basel-Stadt has its own standard contract for household staff (NAV). It sets a first month of probation with 7 days' notice, at most 50 hours a week, and sick pay from the very first day: one month in the first year, more later.
Paperwork. A short written contract, a monthly payslip and a salary certificate (Lohnausweis) in January. If she has children, your registration also gives her family allowances of CHF 275 per child a month.
Cleaners: A Few Hours a Week Count Too
Many families think a cleaner who comes for three hours on Fridays is 'not really' an employee. Legally she is, exactly like a full-time nanny.
What happens if nobody registers her? If she slips on your stairs, the Ersatzkasse UVG pays for her treatment and then bills you for the missing premiums, up to five years back. The AHV can claim unpaid contributions for the last five years, with interest. And she loses years of pension, which is the part that hurts her most.
When You Don't Share a Language
This is more common than you think, here's some tips to help:
Write a short plan for each visit: rooms, tasks, what matters most to you. Add photos of how you like things done.
Use your phone. A translation app's camera and conversation modes solve most misunderstandings in seconds.
Learn ten words of each other's language. It is a small thing that builds a lot of trust.
Agree on one channel for changes, like a WhatsApp chat, and confirm days off in writing.
Give her the important papers in her language. A contract she can read is fairer for both of you.
What Does it Cost?
Two typical cases in Basel-Stadt in 2026, as a monthly average over the year:
Per month, 2026 (average over the year) | Cleaner, 4 h a week at CHF 30 | Nanny, 20 h a week at CHF 28 |
Gross wage incl. 8.33% holiday pay | CHF 520 | CHF 2,427 |
Her deductions (social security, accident, tax or pension fund) | CHF 59 | CHF 211 |
She receives (net) | CHF 461 | CHF 2,215 |
Your contributions on top (social security, family allowances, accident insurance, pension fund, admin fee) | CHF 47 | CHF 242 |
Total cost for you | CHF 567 | CHF 2,668 |
Assumptions: she works 48 weeks a year, and the 8.33% holiday pay covers her four weeks off, so the figures are the yearly total divided by 12. In a month when she works every week, the wage is about 8% higher. She is over 25 with a Swiss passport or C permit. The cleaner earns under CHF 22,680 a year, so the simplified procedure applies and her deductions include the 5% tax at source. The nanny earns more, so she joins a pension fund and pays her taxes herself. Accident insurance is an estimate; actual premiums vary by insurer. Rounded to the franc; Clino's fee is not included.
Where to Get Help
Ausgleichskasse Basel-Stadt: registration and all official forms.
Basel Children's Trust: together we are preparing a free online workshop on employing help at home.
Clino: full disclosure, this is my company. Clino prepares the registration, helps you set up the accident insurance, and does the contract and the monthly payslips for CHF 19.90 a month, with a 30-day free trial. Many of our resources are free, with no account:
Employing a cleaner in Basel-Stadt: every step, form and figure
Employment contract for a cleaner, a bilingual PDF: English plus German, French, Italian, Spanish or Portuguese
Fact sheet for your employee, in six languages
WhatsApp message templates for days off, changes and payment, in six languages
German for household work, with word cards explained in five languages
Clino fact sheet for household workers (Spanish)
Employing someone at home is mostly about trust. Doing it properly is part of that trust, on both sides.
Salvador Jovells
Salvador was born in Barcelona and moved to Zurich in 2017. He works in online marketing. In 2026 he founded Clino, which helps families in Switzerland employ their cleaner, nanny or carer legally. He also publishes free guides and open data on domestic work in Switzerland.
Clino helps families in Switzerland employ their cleaner, nanny or carer themselves, legally and without the paperwork headache. It prepares the AHV registration, helps set up the accident insurance, and does the contract and the monthly payslips for CHF 19.90 a month, with a 30-day free trial. Its guides, contract templates and fact sheets for workers in six languages are free.
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