13th salary in Switzerland

A 13th salary (13. Monatslohn) is not a statutory entitlement in Switzerland — it is owed by contract, a collective agreement (GAV), or custom. The number of payments (12 or 13) changes the per-payment ceiling proration. This page shows the combined payment under the Monatsmodell assumption.

CHF

Gross salary before contributions and tax

Assumption: canton of Zürich, commune of Zürich — the only canton modelled; other cantons differ.

Payments per year
This month includes the 13th salary

Net (take-home)

Net (take-home): 9'849.54 CHF
  • Net (take-home)9'849.5476%
  • Social contributions (employee)1'408.4611%
  • Withholding tax (Quellensteuer)1'742.0013%
Gross monthly salary
13'000.00 CHF
Total employer cost
14'278.46 CHF

13th salary: the Monatsmodell (combined payment) was applied, with 13 payments a year — a modeling assumption.

Notes on the figures (5)

NBU (non-occupational accident) uses an administrative assumption (1.00%), not an insurer market premium.

BVG age credit (Altersgutschrift) at 10%.

The BVG figure shown is the statutory legal minimum (2nd pillar); an actual pension-fund plan may be higher.

Withholding tax (Quellensteuer): canton ZH, tariff A, children 0 — rate 13.4%.

The tariff figures are those in force for 2026; if the tariff changed recently it may not be reflected here yet, and none of them has been through our final sign-off against the official cantonal calculation basis.

A 13th salary is not a legal rightOR Art. 322

This catches many newcomers off guard: in Switzerland a 13th salary (13. Monatslohn) is not a statutory entitlement. The Code of Obligations (Obligationenrecht, OR), in Article 322, defines salary as whatever is agreed, customary, or set by a standard or collective employment contract — nowhere does the Code require a 13th month to be paid.

In practice almost everyone receives one, but it is neither uniform nor verifiable from any public register. Whether you get one depends on what your contract says — which is exactly why the calculator asks you to choose the number of payments rather than assuming on your behalf.

So where does the obligation come from

A 13th salary becomes owed only when one of these three sources provides for it:

  • Employment contract — if it is written explicitly into your individual contract.
  • Collective agreement (GAV/CBA) — industry-wide or company-level; in many sectors the GAV provides for a 13th.
  • Betriebsübung (established practice) — if the employer pays it unconditionally for three consecutive years, an implied entitlement can arise for the future.

If none of those three applies, the employer does not owe it. So before you sign, check whether and in what form a 13th salary is provided for.

12 or 13 payments — what actually changes

A 13th salary does not introduce a special tax rate. AHV/IV/EO (old-age, disability and loss-of-income insurance), at 10.6%, is uncapped — so the 13th is charged exactly like every other franc of pay.

The difference appears on contributions that have a ceiling. ALV (unemployment insurance), at 2.2%, is levied up to an annual ceiling of 148'200 CHF; nothing is charged above it. That ceiling is annual, and the tool prorates it per payment — so the number of payments changes how much ceiling each month gets.

Annual ALV ceiling148'200 CHF
Ceiling per payment (12 payments)12'350 CHF
Ceiling per payment (13 payments)11'400 CHF
Combined December (two "slots")22'800 CHF

With more payments each one carries a smaller ceiling, because the same annual amount is split into more pieces — but the total annual capped base stays the same.

The December payslipmodeling assumption

The research this site is built on confirms that the number of payments changes the per-payment calculation, but it is silent on whether the 13th is taxed under a monthly (Monatsmodell) or annual (Jahresmodell) model. So this tool adopts one assumption and labels it clearly as such.

The assumption is the Monatsmodell: the 13th is paid together with the December salary, so that month is computed as a single doubled gross. The ceiling for that month covers two "slots" (22'800 CHF). Because the month's gross is larger, it can fall into a higher withholding band (Quellensteuer) than an ordinary month. That is how this tool models the payment — not a rule of Swiss law; an employer or canton may use the annual model instead.

In the calculator above, choose 13 payments and tick "This month includes the 13th salary" to see the combined month, or untick it to see an ordinary month in a year that includes a 13th.

What does not change

BVG (the second-pillar occupational pension) is computed on the annual coordinated salary, not on a single month. So whether the 13th lands together with December or separately does not change BVG — the annual basis stays on the regular month. The higher annual pay from the 13th itself feeds into the annual calculation, but bunching two payments into one month makes no difference.

Likewise, the 13th introduces no new kind of contribution and no exemption — the same rules that apply to regular pay apply to it, franc for franc.

Frequently asked questions