The 13th Salary in Switzerland, and When It Is Actually Owed

There is no federal statute that grants a 13th salary in Switzerland. It is owed when the employment contract, a collective agreement or a settled and unreserved practice promises it. Once promised as a fixed amount, it is deferred wage, not a gift.

Almost every Swiss job advertisement quotes twelve or thirteen monthly salaries, so candidates assume the thirteenth is a legal right. It is not. No federal statute obliges an employer to pay a thirteenth month. What the Code of Obligations does is make the agreed wage binding, and that is where a thirteenth salary comes from.

When it is owed

• The employment contract promises it, in words or in figures.
• A collective agreement or a standard employment contract covering the business provides for it.
• The employer has paid it repeatedly and without reservation, so employees may rely on it in good faith.

If none of these applies, a year end payment is a gratification that the employer decides on.

Salary or bonus

The wording decides. A fixed thirteenth month, usually one twelfth of the annual salary, is deferred wage: it is owed and it can be claimed. A payment described as voluntary, discretionary and dependent on results is treated as a gratification. Even a voluntariness clause can lose its effect over time if the payment has clearly become the rule.

Leaving during the year

Where the thirteenth salary is wage, an employee who leaves in August is normally owed a pro rata share for the months worked, unless the contract validly provides otherwise. A clause requiring the employee to still be in post on the payment date is common with gratifications and much weaker against true wage.

Payroll treatment

The thirteenth salary is ordinary salary for social insurance. AHV, IV, EO, ALV and accident premiums apply exactly as on monthly pay, and the payment can push an employee over the annual ALV ceiling in the month it is paid. It also counts towards the BVG insured salary where the pension plan defines annual salary that way.

Claiming it late

Claims from an employment relationship become time barred five years after they fall due. An employee who never received a contractually promised thirteenth month therefore has five years to raise it, not one payroll cycle.

Common questions