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Demand for unpaid wages or overtime, in French (Switzerland)

Switzerland · in French · for employees

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For employees in French-speaking Switzerland whose employer owes them wages, overtime or pay during illness, in French: a written demand for payment listing the amounts, with the total, a deadline and the account. Overtime with the 25% supplement (Art. 321c para. 3 CO), pay during illness on your canton's scale (Art. 324a CO), 5% default interest and a written pay statement (Art. 323b CO). Items you leave blank are dropped. Send it by registered post; the conciliation that may follow is free of court costs up to CHF 30'000.00.

  • Last updated November 4, 2026
Switzerland
Notice & Demand
Français
Employment
Print & sign
2 pages

Published byDocMuse

When to use this document

  • Your employer in French-speaking Switzerland has not paid your salary for several weeks.
  • Your overtime was never paid or made up with time off.
  • Your employer cut your pay while you were ill or after an accident.
  • You want a written demand in French for your unpaid wages before going to the labour court in Switzerland.

What you fill in

The details the document asks for.

  • Employee
  • Employee's address
  • Employer
  • Employer's registered address
  • City
  • Date
  • Job title
  • Start date
  • Date of termination
  • Unpaid wages: months or period (optional)
  • Unpaid wages, gross amount in CHF (optional)
  • Overtime pay claimed, gross in CHF (optional)
  • Pay during illness or accident: period off work (optional)
  • Pay during illness or accident, gross in CHF (optional)
  • Other claim, e.g. 13th-month pay, holiday pay or expenses (optional)
  • Other claim, amount in CHF (optional)
  • Total amount
  • Unpaid overtime (dates and hours)
  • Canton of the court: scale for pay during illness (optional) (in French)
  • Deadline
  • IBAN
  • Attachments

Common questions

In French-speaking Switzerland, must overtime be paid, and with what supplement?
Necessary hours beyond the agreed or usual schedule can be made up, with your consent, by time off of at least the same length; otherwise the employer pays them at the normal wage plus at least a quarter (Art. 321c CO). A written agreement, a standard employment contract or a collective agreement can provide otherwise, for instance by including them in the salary. Keep a record of your hours: it is for you to prove them, and that they were ordered or known to the employer.
In French-speaking Switzerland, is work beyond the legal maximum hours owed if the contract includes overtime in the salary?
Yes, where the Labour Act applies to you. Work beyond its maximum working week of 45 or 50 hours, depending on the business and the job (Art. 9 LTr), is travail supplémentaire. For it the employer owes a mandatory supplement of at least 25%, unless it is made up, with your consent, by time off of the same length; for office, technical and other employees only from the 61st hour in a calendar year (Art. 13 LTr). An agreement that includes overtime in the salary (Art. 321c para. 3 CO) does not change that.
In the French-speaking cantons, how long does the employer pay wages during illness?
If the job has lasted more than three months or was agreed for more than three months, the employer pays wages during illness or accident through no fault of yours for three weeks in the first year of service, then for a fairly set longer period (Art. 324a CO). Geneva, Vaud and the other French-speaking cantons follow the Bern scale, Zurich the Zurich scale. Loss-of-earnings insurance that is at least equivalent can replace this (Art. 324a para. 4 CO). After an accident, accident insurance pays 80% of insured earnings from the third day; the employer's duty then follows Art. 324b CO.
Does a receipt 'in full and final settlement' stop me claiming my wages in Switzerland?
Not for claims under mandatory law: during the employment and for one month after it ends, the employee cannot waive them (Art. 341 para. 1 CO). Wage claims become time-barred five years after they fall due (Art. 128 no. 3 CO). This letter does not interrupt the limitation period: debt enforcement, a conciliation request or an acknowledgement of debt by the employer does (Art. 135 CO).
Where do you take action in French-speaking Switzerland if the employer still does not pay?
With a conciliation request at the employer's seat or where you usually work (Art. 34 CPC): in Geneva at the Tribunal des prud'hommes, in Vaud at the district's tribunal de prud'hommes up to CHF 30'000.00; the courts offer free forms. Up to that amount there are no court costs and the simplified procedure applies (Art. 113, 114 and 243 CPC). Debt enforcement is also possible, and if the employer is insolvent the unemployment fund can, under certain conditions, pay insolvency compensation (Art. 51 ff. LACI).

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