What is a fair wage for a cleaner?

quitt handles the payroll of over 20’000 domestic helpers in Switzerland and therefore knows the average hourly wage employers pay their private cleaning staff.

Our wage recommendation for cleaners

We state our wage recommendations for cleaning and domestic help in gross wages. It refers to the salary agreed between the employer and employee for their work before deduction of taxes and social security contributions. We at quitt recommend a gross wage of between 28 and 33 francs per hour for domestic help. The average in Switzerland is 30.70 francs gross.

How much do private employers pay their cleaner?

Our wage recommendation is based on the wage details of domestic helpers registered with quitt. Our data is so reliable that it is even used by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office.

The infographics above show how many employment relationships pay hourly wages in a given spectrum. Most employment relationships have defined an hourly wage between 27.50 and 30.00 francs. This is because a paid net wage usually results in a gross wage of around 28 francs.

The infographics show that private individuals are happy to pay fair wages – as long as they can determine them themselves.

Are there cantonal differences?

In Switzerland, too, there are regional differences in the pay of cleaning assistants, although these are not quite as great compared to other countries. Our infographic shows the cantonal differences in average hourly wages on quitt. Cleaners earn an average of 30.70 francs per hour in Switzerland. But wages vary greatly depending on the canton.

Minimum wage in Switzerland – update January 2023

There is no national minimum wage in Switzerland. However, some cantons have introduced a minimum wage at the cantonal level. Certain collective and standard employment contracts as well as companies also provide for minimum wages. For employees in the private domestic sector, these have been in force since March 1, 2020. With the exception of the Canton of Geneva, the standard employment contract for employees in domestic work (NAV for domestic work for jobs with an average of five hours per week or more with the same employer) stipulates the following gross minimum wages per hour (without holiday bonus):

• Unskilled employees without professional experience: CHF 19.50
• Unskilled employees with 4 years of professional experience in housekeeping: CHF 21.40
• Trained domestic workers with three years of basic vocational training and a Federal Certificate of Competence (EFZ): CHF 23.55
• Trained domestic worker with two years of vocational training and a professional certificate (EBA): CHF 21.40

For the canton of Geneva, the following gross monthly wages have applied since 2021:

• CHF 4,010.93 per month for a 40-hour working week
• CHF 4,211.48 per month for a 42-hour working week
• CHF 4,512.30 per month for a 45-hour week

The hourly wage can be reduced proportionally if the wage is paid 13 times per year. More information on the solution in the canton of Geneva in French under:
https://www.ge.ch/employer-du-personnel-maison/salaires

For the quitt team it is very important that cleaning staff and domestic helpers are fairly paid. We therefore recommend that the minimum wages are observed – regardless of the number of hours per week. You can find more detailed information on the subject of minimum wages in home economics in the leaflet below.

What is the composition of the salary?

Tip: With our free wage calculator you can calculate your wage with just a few clicks, taking into account all deductions and insurance costs.

The percentages in the above graph refer to the total wage. Other wage calculations always refer to the gross wage – therefore the quitt commission here is only 4.4% instead of «5% on gross wage».