Accident insurance

Mandatory for everybody! Accident insurance covers all accidents which your babysitter or nanny could suffer during the performance of his or her work as well as when travelling to work. In fact, it protects anybody you employ in your home. Therefore, the insurance needs to be concluded by the household, and not by the care-giver.

There are only a few exceptions from the insurance obligation: So-called "Pocket Money Jobs" (up to the age of 25 and less than CHF 750 per year) don't need to be insured against accidents. That means that babysitters between 13 and 25 years need to organise accident protection themselves, e.g. through the health insurance of their parents. Childminders who look after your child at their own home and babysitters who are recognized as self-employed don't need to be insured either. However, the latter hardly ever is the case.

Please note: If it is not a pocket money job (under 25 years and less than CHF 750 p.a.), it is not sufficient for your child carer to be insured against accidents via his or her health insurance company. Neither does it matter if she or he is employed and insured in another household. As an employment relationship exists, you as the employer are required to conclude mandatory accident insurance.

Less than 8 hours of child care per week

If your child carer works for less than eight hours a week, only basic accident insurance is required. The insurance policy can be taken out with all major insurance companies and costs CHF 100 per year. The premium must be paid by the employer.

If you employ several child carers but the total number of working hours does not exceed 8 hours, one insurance policy is sufficient. If the total number of hours exceeds eight hours per week, a non-occupational accident insurance policy must also be concluded. In this case, you should ideally contact your insurance company directly.

More than 8 hours of child care per week

For a workload of eight hours a week or more, insurance must be concluded which covers both occupational and non-occupational accidents. In principle, the premium must be paid by the employee. The employer may also, however, pay for part or all of the premium.