Reviewing your employment contract: probation period, notice periods, and the 13th-month salary.
What is typically included in a Swiss employment contract – and what you should definitely check before signing.
Redaktion swissexpat · 1 July 2026 · 6 min
Swiss employment contracts are brief and liberal – and precisely for that reason it pays to take a close look, because many things are not regulated by law but by the contract itself.
The standard building blocks
The probation period is usually 1–3 months with only seven days’ notice. After that, notice periods of 1–3 months usually apply, each ending on the last day of the month. The 13th-month salary is common but not legally required – check whether it is included in your annual salary. Holidays: the legal minimum is four weeks, but five is typical.
Check before you sign
- Gross annual salary including/excluding 13th-month salary?
- Overtime: compensated, paid out or “covered by your salary”?
- Non-compete clause: duration, region, penalty clause
- Pension fund benefits: above the mandatory minimum or only the minimum?
- Does a collective employment agreement (GAV) with better terms apply?
Illness and continued pay
Without daily sickness allowance insurance, the statutory continued-pay entitlement is minimal (only three weeks in the first year of service). Good employers insure 80% of your salary for 720 days – a contractual detail that can be vital in an emergency.
In Swiss employment law, what isn’t in the contract usually doesn’t exist.
Basis: OR Art. 319 et seq., ArG. Status July 2026. Not legal advice.
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