Paying a salary to someone who works in your home is not limited to the net amount that lands in their account. On top of that salary come social charges, mandatory from the first franc, which the employer partly withholds and partly tops up. Understanding their structure means avoiding two frequent pitfalls: underestimating the true cost of a job and, more seriously, omitting an affiliation that resurfaces during an audit. Here is how the social cover breaks down, with the official source for each part.
The first block: AVS, AI and APG
Old-age and survivors' insurance (AVS), disability insurance (AI) and loss-of-earnings allowances (APG) form the base. The contribution is shared equally between employer and employee: you withhold the employee's share from the gross salary and pay the total — your share included — to your compensation fund. The exact rates are set at federal level and set out in the official leaflet 2.01 AVS/AI/APG salary contributions. For domestic employment specifically, leaflet 2.06 Domestic work states the applicable rules. Rather than memorising a percentage that shifts, hold on to the principle — employer/employee parity — and read the rate in force on those pages.
Unemployment insurance and family allowances
To AVS/AI/APG are added the unemployment insurance contribution (AC), also shared, and the family-allowances contribution, borne by the employer. These pass through the same compensation fund, which simplifies payment but does not reduce their scope: each is due as soon as a salary is paid regularly.
Accident insurance (LAA): a full obligation
Every employee must be insured against occupational accidents. Once the weekly working time reaches the legal threshold, the insurance also covers non-occupational accidents, the premium for which is then in principle borne by the employee. Below that threshold, only occupational accidents are covered and the employee must arrange their own accident cover for the rest. The framework is set by the Accident Insurance Act (LAA). Never treat the LAA as optional: it is the insurance that, in the event of an accident, protects both your employee and your liability as an employer.
Occupational pension (LPP): a matter of threshold
Unlike the previous schemes, the LPP — the second pillar — applies only above an annual salary threshold, revised periodically. A very part-time home job may fall below that threshold and not trigger affiliation; a more substantial job makes it mandatory. The subtlety is real: the threshold is assessed against the salary concerned, and an employee may combine several jobs. Rather than putting forward an amount that will be outdated at the next indexation, check the current entry threshold and the affiliation terms in the light of the Occupational Pensions Act (LPP). When affiliation is due, it goes through a pension institution, and the contribution is shared between employer and employee.
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The real cost of a job
For the employer, the simple rule to keep in mind is that the total cost always exceeds the gross salary: to it are added the employer's shares of AVS/AI/APG and AC, the family-allowances contribution, the LAA premium and, where relevant, the employer's LPP share, not forgetting the fund's administrative fees. Reasoning in terms of full employer cost, from the outset, avoids painful adjustments mid-contract and gives your employee an honest view of their cover.
The annual statement and corrections
Contributions are settled during the year on the basis of instalments, then reconciled in a final statement. A rising salary, a changing activity rate, an employee who leaves mid-year: each of these events changes the basis and calls for an adjustment. Keeping a clear statement, month by month, turns that reconciliation into a mere formality; ignoring it exposes you to cumulative back-payments discovered, at the worst moment, as a retroactive bill. That is the difference between steering and being steered.
The most costly mistakes
Three mistakes recur. The first is treating a job of "just a few hours" as outside the scope of the insurances: the first franc is enough to trigger AVS. The second is confusing the LPP threshold with a general exemption: the second pillar has its own threshold, but AVS, AC and LAA remain due below it. The third is neglecting the non-occupational accident cover of an employee below the hourly threshold: the employee believes they are covered when they are covered only for occupational accidents. Each of these mistakes can be fixed, but always at a cost higher than that of clean framing at hiring.
A mechanism worth delegating
Taken separately, these contributions are legible; taken together, with their thresholds, parities and deadlines, they demand a discipline few individuals have time to exercise. We hold this mechanism for you — correct affiliations, up-to-date statements, documented threshold judgements — with the same rigour a family office applies, brought to your household. Let's discuss your situation.
The rates and thresholds cited are indexed annually: the linked official page prevails, and we verified them on 2026-09-20.