Hi everyone,

We're looking to organise a day carer for our kids - a tagesmütter but privately organised.

How much do we pay before we have to contribute to the pension (AHV)?
Do you take tax out or is it up to them to declare it?
Do you declare it yourself any way?

Thanks for all advice!

Cheers
Jase

Will it be in your own home?

If so, you willl need to complete a form with the AHV that says your are employing someone in your home. The AHV can organise salary payments where they work out the employee/employer AHV contributions, pension and Quellensteuer. Even Swiss nationals get Quellensteuer taken out (and then claim it back).

You also need an accident insurance policy for someone working in your home. You are responsible for sick pay, holidays and maternity payments.

I have had a terrible experience with the AHV office in Zug where they sent me an incorrect bill that I promptly told them was wrong, and while waiting for their correction they sent it to Betreibung. I hope that Zürich will be a better experience for you.

I am never going through that again and would personally perfer to drop my kids off at a place where they manage the salary, holidays and provide cover for sick days.

We employed an au pair and we had to fill out their tax return and luckily I have an accountant who helped us, but in the end it cost us a lot of money and time just for something which was relatively simple. I would try and see if there is a Krippe or Creche in your neighborhood.

the person would not live with us - just come in the morning and leave in the evening....

there is a krippe but as all krippe's it's expensive with 2 kids...
and we have a 5yo who will go into 2nd year kindergarten and he's getting too old for the krippe really

so we're trying to find something that works better for us

and besides we can save a considerable sum doing it this way - something in the order of 2K a month

which is significant and makes it worth the effort

Unless they are Swiss or hold a C permit, you will a need to handle the work permit for them as well.

Jim

Swiss girl we're talking to - we know her from her "try out year" at the krippe

What hours are you looking for, full time part time, have you thought about getting a Praktikum.Talk to your School Gemeinde about your situation and see what they recommend.

Bingo! that's exactly what we're looking at - one of the praktkanten from this year (ends end of July - end of school year)

She's known to us, the boys love her, she loves the boys and she's not far away

Even if it's only for 12months and we have to find something else after that that's still a saving of some 24,000chf over the coming 12 months

I think it's worth pursuing for that price

In your position I would certainly find an accountant in your area who can help you through the bureaucratic paper trail and talk to the authorities on your behalf. You can also recuperate some costs against your tax. Also search the forum for Tagesmutter or Praktikant.

good point i will talk to our accountant and get some advice

That sounds like a lot of saving if you compare Krippe costs with full time nanny...

what salary are you looking to give her? Because with all the addedd costs unless you pay her real little this saving seems real high....

CHF 3000 a month plus AHV, plus pension should be the *minimum* salary, so for us 3 days a week would be CHF 2000 a month. 2 kids in a krippe 3 days a week will cost us CHF 3000 a month.

When you start talking into account their holidays (4 weeks) and sickness cover it didn't look like a substantial saving for us.

well as a praktikanten they get 800chf per month
we can afford to pay them significantly more that and still save that much money....

look at the regular krippe cost:
1 child full time for 5 days @ 115chf per day = 2300/month
1 child half time inc. lunch for 5 days @ 75chf per day = 1500/month

that's a total of 3,800/month!!!!

When will she complete her praktikum? You may also be responsible for paying for her course and books and give her time off to study and complete her exams. CHF 800 a month isn't a lot. From what I have heard, live in nanny salaries start at CHF 2000 a month and anyone needing to survive here needs at least CHF 3000 a month. I heard that min. salaries were CHF 3500 a month for 42.5 hours max.

Even an au pair has a min. salary of around CHF 700 a month, but you also have to pay for a language course and their medical insurance.

She will not live in and is relatively young and not qualified - the praktikum does not give any qualifications it's just like a try out year - the lehrstelle (apprenticeship i guess) is what they're aiming for but places for that are severely limited

2000chf/month is ok for someone qualified and has some first aid certificates - we'd look to pay for that for her....

As soon as she becomes qualified she will be able to easily find a day nanny job / krippe position paying more than CHF 3500 a month.

Just check about her studies and what you might have to pay. We had apprentices at work that their course was paid, all books were paid ect. Come exam time, time off to study too.

and i would say good luck to her
this is likely only going to be a 1yr thing for her and we understand - no problems.... we can both help each other out here....

Taxes are covered here, too:

The Au Pair/Nanny employment thread (no ads!)
Nanny Contract/Registration


Contracts here but for cleaners
Contract for cleaner in Zurich in English?

Can anyone engage an apprentice? Are you specially qualified to train a child carer?

Do you go down this route in the end?

We are employing a nanny at present and our insurance broker seems to be happy to do all of the legwork/paperwork (free of charge). It may be because he is a friendly guy but I am assuming its because he is picking up the premiums too.

On that note what do people think about sick pay insurance. The broker is suggesting its a no-brainer because the employer has a responsibility to continue paying if the nanny goes sick - but I guess the devil is in the detail (and price). ie do you have to pay sick pay indefinately or for a maximum period? Does sick pay only kick in after x days and with a doctors note? How much does the insurance cover when you are paying the nanny by the hour and with flexible hours per month (although realistically with a minimum 50-60 p/m)?

Anyone with experience of this?