Since paternity leave came into force in Switzerland in 2021, legal fathers and the wives of women who have given birth have been entitled to paid leave after the birth of a child. This leave, referred to in Swiss legislation as leave for the other parent, allows those entitled to it to take time away from work while receiving compensation through the loss of earnings compensation scheme (APG).
For employers, managing this leave involves several steps: checking that the conditions for entitlement are met, organizing the employee's absence, passing on the necessary information and handling the payroll side. Understanding the applicable rules is what makes compliant management of Swiss social security obligations possible.
Who Is Entitled to Paternity Leave in Switzerland?
Swiss paternity leave is not restricted to biological fathers. The rules define who is entitled by law and set certain conditions relating to gainful activity and to social insurance membership.
Who Are the Beneficiaries?
Paternity leave concerns two categories of people:
- the child's legal father;
- the wife of the mother who gave birth.
The legal father is the person recognized as such under Swiss law at the time of the birth, or who becomes so within the six months following it. This second point matters in practice: an employee who is not married to the mother and who formally acknowledges the child a few weeks after the birth is entitled to the leave just as much as a father whose parenthood was established on the day of the birth. Entitlement therefore does not depend on the biological link alone, but on legal recognition of parenthood.
The wife of a woman who has given birth has also been entitled to this leave since marriage for all came into force on July 1, 2022, provided she meets the applicable conditions. The legislation itself was renamed later, on January 1, 2024, when the terms paternity leave and paternity allowance were replaced by leave for the other parent and allowance for the other parent. The two dates should not be confused: the entitlement came first, the change of wording followed.
To qualify for the leave, the person concerned must also be in gainful employment at the time of the birth. Entitlement can apply both to:
- employees working for a Swiss company;
- self-employed workers.
The purpose is to partly compensate for the loss of income caused by the temporary interruption of professional activity after the birth of the child.
What Are the Conditions for Entitlement?
Being in work at the time of the birth is not enough on its own to obtain the allowance attached to paternity leave. The person concerned must also meet insurance and activity conditions.
To be entitled to the paternity leave allowance, they must in particular:
- have been compulsorily insured with the AVS during the 9 months preceding the child's birth;
- have been in gainful employment for at least 5 months during that period.
These conditions ensure that the person has a sufficient link with the Swiss social insurance system before the birth.
In practice, the employer must therefore check the employee's situation when a paternity leave request is made. Administrative handling is not limited to recording the absence: it also involves passing the necessary information to the compensation fund so that the APG allowance can be calculated and paid.
How Long Is Paternity Leave?
Swiss paternity leave follows a simple principle: those entitled have two weeks of leave after the birth of the child. The rules do, however, allow a degree of flexibility in how those days are taken.
Two Weeks to Be Taken Within Six Months
Paternity leave is set at two weeks, corresponding to 14 daily allowances paid under the loss of earnings compensation scheme (APG).
For an employee working full time on a standard five-day week, this generally amounts to 10 working days of absence.
The leave does not have to be taken immediately after the birth. The person entitled has a framework period of six months from the child's birth in which to use all of their leave days.
This flexibility allows the parent to choose a period that suits their family situation and their working arrangements. The employer must nevertheless take this possibility into account when planning absences and arranging any cover for the employee.
Can the Leave Be Split?
Unlike certain types of leave that must be taken in a single block, Swiss paternity leave can be organized flexibly.
The person entitled can choose to take their leave:
- as a single period corresponding to two weeks;
- as individual days spread over the six months following the birth.
This makes it possible to adapt the leave to the family's needs and to the company's constraints. An employee may, for example, decide to take several days immediately after the birth and keep some days for a later period.
The practical arrangements must be communicated to the employer so that absences and business continuity can be managed properly.
What Happens If a Parent Dies After the Birth?
Swiss legislation provides for specific arrangements where one of the parents dies shortly after the birth. These rules have been in force since January 1, 2024 and cover both situations.
If the mother dies during childbirth or in the 14 weeks that follow, the surviving parent, whether the legal father or the mother's wife, is entitled to 14 weeks of leave compensated under the APG scheme. This is the equivalent of maternity leave. Unlike ordinary paternity leave, it must be taken without interruption, starting the day after the mother's death.
Where it is the other parent who dies shortly after the birth, the surviving mother receives 2 additional weeks of leave on top of her 14 weeks of maternity leave. These two weeks can be taken flexibly, under the same arrangements as paternity leave.
For the employer, both situations call for specific administrative handling in order to respect the rights of the employee concerned.
How Is Paternity Leave Paid?
Paternity leave in Switzerland does not mean that the employer automatically continues to pay the usual salary. Compensation is provided by the loss of earnings compensation scheme (APG), which replaces part of the income lost during the leave.
For the company, understanding how this allowance works is therefore essential in order to handle the employee's payroll correctly and to deal with the compensation fund.
How Much Is the Allowance?
During their paternity leave, the person entitled receives an allowance corresponding to 80% of the average income from their gainful activity before the birth of the child.
The calculation is based on the determining income taken into account by the APG scheme. The aim is to partly offset the drop in income caused by the temporary interruption of professional activity.
The allowance is nevertheless capped. It cannot exceed CHF 220 per day.
For the 14 daily allowances corresponding to the two weeks of leave, the maximum amount paid is therefore CHF 3,080 in total.
In practice, the amount actually received depends on the person's previous income. An employee whose income reaches the ceiling will receive the maximum allowance, while a lower income results in a proportionally calculated allowance.
The employer must also bear this in mind when preparing the payroll items linked to the leave. Depending on the arrangement chosen, the employee may receive the allowance directly from the compensation fund, or continue to receive their usual salary if the employer advances the allowance.
Who Funds the Allowance?
Paternity leave is funded by the loss of earnings compensation scheme (APG), which is part of the Swiss social insurance system.
Its funding comes from APG contributions levied on salaries. Since the contribution rate was adjusted, these amount to 0.5% of salary, shared equally between employer and employee:
- 0.25% borne by the employer;
- 0.25% borne by the employee.
Funding for paternity leave is therefore built into the general operation of the APG scheme and does not represent an additional direct payroll cost tied solely to one employee going on leave.
For the employer, this means that the main administrative cost lies in handling the claim, passing on the necessary information and, where applicable, advancing the allowance.
What Steps Must the Employer Take?
Payment of the paternity leave allowance is not automatic. The person entitled must submit a claim so that the compensation fund can verify their entitlement and calculate the amount of the allowance.
The employer nevertheless plays an important role in this procedure, particularly where the employee continues to receive their usual salary during the leave.
How to Claim the APG Allowance
The claim must be sent to the competent AVS compensation fund.
The person entitled must provide the information needed to verify their entitlement and to calculate the allowance. The claim includes data relating to:
- the identity of the person entitled;
- the birth of the child;
- the professional activity carried out;
- the income used as the basis for calculating the allowance.
Where the person entitled is an employee, the employer generally has to complete the information relating to the employment relationship and the salary.
This step allows the compensation fund to determine the amount of the APG allowance and to make payment under the arrangements provided for.
What Is the Employer's Role?
Above all, the employer must allow the employee to exercise their right to the leave and organize their absence in line with the applicable rules.
On the administrative side, two situations can arise.
If the employer does not maintain the salary during the leave, the APG allowance is generally paid directly to the person entitled.
If, on the other hand, the company continues to pay the usual salary during the leave, it can claim reimbursement of the allowance from the compensation fund. In that case, the employer provides the salary statement needed to calculate and pay the allowance.
This arrangement allows the employee to keep their usual pay during the absence, while allowing the company to recover the amount corresponding to the APG allowance.
One consequence deserves particular attention. If the employer terminates the contract while the employee has not yet taken all of their paternity leave days, the notice period is extended by the number of days not yet taken. An employee's remaining entitlement therefore continues to have an effect on the end date of the employment relationship.
To avoid payroll errors, the employer needs to draw a clear distinction between:
- the period of absence linked to paternity leave;
- any continued payment of salary;
- the APG allowance paid or reimbursed;
- the associated social security declarations.
Rigorous management makes the administrative work easier and ensures that both the employee's rights and the company's obligations are respected.
Manage Paternity Leave Easily with Numeriq Payroll
Managing paternity leave is not simply a matter of recording a few days of absence in a payroll system. The employer also has to check the applicable conditions, handle the remuneration items correctly, pass the necessary information to the compensation fund and integrate the APG allowance into the payroll process.
These steps can become complex when a company has several employees, works across different cantons or deals with a number of specific social insurance situations.
At Numeriq Payroll, a specialist in payroll management in Switzerland, we support Swiss companies in meeting all of their obligations relating to payroll, social insurance and administrative reporting. Our team helps you manage absences linked to paternity leave and maternity leave in Switzerland, while making sure the applicable requirements are met.
Our support includes:
- factoring paternity leave into payroll management;
- preparing the items needed for APG allowance claims;
- following up declarations with the compensation funds;
- checking that allowances and social security contributions are treated correctly;
- administrative support to simplify your company's procedures.
By outsourcing your payroll to Numeriq Payroll, you gain a specialist contact who helps you secure your processes while reducing the administrative burden on your teams.
Our multilingual team based in Switzerland already supports more than 100 companies and 1,000 contractors with their payroll and administrative needs. With over 50 years of combined experience, 24/7 assistance and payroll accuracy of 99.9%, we put our expertise at the service of reliable, compliant management of obligations under Swiss employment law for employers.
You can then focus on your business while benefiting from human support for your payroll and social insurance procedures in Switzerland.
.png)
