Overview of minimum wage developments in Switzerland, including federal, cantonal and newly approved municipal regulations.
Martina Aepli
Legal Partner
Marina Bosch
Junior Legal Associate
Although the introduction of a national minimum wage was decisively rejected at the polls in 2014, minimum wages have since become increasingly established in Switzerland. In addition to minimum wages stipulated in collective labour agreements and standard employment contracts, several cantons now have statutory minimum wage thresholds. With its rulings of May 12, 2026, the Federal Supreme Court has now also paved the way for municipal minimum wages.
This article is intended to provide an overview of the various types and levels of minimum wages in Switzerland—the MME team is happy to answer any questions you may have or provide more detailed information.
Minimum wages in collective labour agreements and standard employment contracts
The most common form of minimum wages in Switzerland is found in collective labour agreements (CLA). These are generally negotiated between employers’ associations and employees’ associations and regulate working conditions within a particular sector or profession. They often include binding minimum wage provisions. Generally, a CLA and the minimum wages set therein apply only where both the employer and the employee belong to the contracting parties’ respective associations. Under certain conditions, however, a CLA may be declared generally binding by the Federal Council (or, where its scope is limited to a canton, by the competent cantonal authority) upon request of the contracting parties. Such a declaration extends the CLA and its minimum wage provisions to all employers and employees within a given sector or profession. As of mid-2026, more than 80 generally binding CLAs are in force across Switzerland.
If there is no CLA with mandatory minimum wage provisions, or if such an agreement does not meet the requirements to be declared generally binding, a standard employment contract may be issued; in cases where the scope of application extends across cantons, the Federal Council is responsible, and in other cases, the cantonal authorities are responsible. A standard employment contract with mandatory minimum wages may be proposed by a so-called tripartite commission - composed of representatives of employers, employees, and the government - if wages customary for a particular location, profession, or industry are repeatedly undercut in an abusive manner within a sector or profession.At the federal level, there is a single standard employment contract, which sets a gross minimum wage for domestic workers throughout Switzerland (with the exception of the canton of Geneva) of CHF 20.35 per hour (up to CHF 24.55 depending on qualifications).
Cantonal Minimum Wage
Currently, the cantons of Neuchâtel, Jura, Geneva, Ticino, and Basel-Stadt have minimum wage thresholds. The amount of the minimum wage varies considerably from canton to canton, ranging from about CHF 20.00 gross per hour in Ticino to about CHF 24.50 per hour in Geneva. The canton of Neuchâtel played a pioneering role in this regard: as early as 2011, voters approved a popular initiative enshrining the introduction of a cantonal minimum wage in the cantonal constitution. However, the implementation was significantly delayed, as the relevant implementing provisions were challenged in court. It was only with the landmark decision of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court (BGE 143 I 403) in 2017 that the lawfulness of the Neuchâtel minimum wage was confirmed, thereby paving the way for the introduction of cantonal minimum wages in other cantons.
The central issue in the proceedings was whether a cantonal minimum wage is compatible with economic freedom and whether it violates the principle of the primacy of federal law. With regard to economic freedom, the Federal Supreme Court held that a moderate minimum wage, which serves to combat poverty and prevent the emergence of the “working poor,” constitutes a permissible social policy measure and therefore does not violate economic freedom. The Federal Supreme Court also ruled that there was no violation of the principle of the primacy of federal law. Following this decision, cantonal minimum wages have become established and are slowly spreading. Most recently, in mid-June 2026, the canton of Vaud also approved the introduction of a minimum wage.
Municipal minimum wage
As early as June 2023, the voters of the cities of Zurich and Winterthur approved the introduction of municipal minimum wages. However, the respective minimum wage ordinances were challenged and subsequently annulled by the Administrative Court of the Canton of Zurich, which considered them incompatible with cantonal law. By judgment of 12 May 2026, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court gave the cities the green light and confirmed that municipal minimum wages are permissible in the Canton of Zurich. The proceedings focused on the question of whether municipalities such as the City of Zurich are even authorized to introduce minimum wages. The Federal Supreme Court answered this in the affirmative, even though the Constitution of the Canton of Zurich contains no specific provision for the introduction of minimum wages. It held that - at least in the Canton of Zurich - a public task may also be assumed in the absence of an explicit basis in the cantonal constitution, and concluded that municipalities in the Canton of Zurich may, in principle, perform public tasks themselves, provided that they can fulfil them just as effectively as the canton. The Court further considered that the fight against the phenomenon of the ‘working poor’ through minimum wage regulations can be carried out just as effectively by cities such as Zurich or Winterthur, given their proximity to local conditions. In the Court’s view, there is also no comprehensive cantonal regulation in the field of social assistance or poverty alleviation that would exclude the competence of municipalities.
Zurich and Winterthur can now introduce their gross minimum hourly wages of CHF 23.90 and CHF 23.00, respectively, and, together with Lucerne – where a municipal minimum wage of CHF 22.75 gross has applied since 1 January 2026 – further advance the development of municipal minimum wages in Switzerland.
