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Demand for unpaid wages or overtime (Switzerland)

Switzerland · in English · for employees

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For employees in Switzerland whose employer owes them wages, overtime or pay during illness: 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 court scale (Art. 324a CO), 5% default interest and a written pay statement (Art. 323b CO). Items left blank are dropped. Send it registered; conciliation that may follow is free of court costs up to CHF 30'000.00. Swiss authorities and courts work in their official language — German, French or Italian — so this English version is for dealings between private parties.

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

Published byDocMuse

When to use this document

  • Your employer in Switzerland has not paid last month's salary.
  • You have worked many extra hours that were never paid or made up.
  • Your employer stopped your pay while you were off sick.
  • You want to demand the money in writing before going to the conciliation authority.

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)
  • Deadline
  • IBAN
  • Attachments

Common questions

When does a Swiss employer owe a 25% supplement on the extra hours I worked?
Under the contract rule, hours needed beyond the agreed or usual schedule are made up, with your consent, by time off of at least the same length; otherwise they are paid at the normal wage plus at least a quarter (Art. 321c CO), unless a written agreement or a standard or collective contract provides otherwise. Separately, work beyond the Labour Act's maximum week of 45 or 50 hours (Art. 9 ArG) carries a supplement of at least 25% that no contract excludes; for office, technical and other employees only from the 61st hour in a calendar year (Art. 13 ArG). Keep a record of your hours: proving them, and that they were ordered or known, is for you.
How long must my Swiss employer keep paying me during illness, and on which scale?
If the job has lasted more than three months or was agreed for more than three, the employer pays wages during illness or accident through no fault of yours for three weeks in the first year of service, then for an appropriately longer period (Art. 324a CO). Courts measure that period on a scale that differs by canton: the Zurich scale in Zurich, the Bern scale in Bern, Vaud, Aargau, Geneva, Ticino and most others; the letter names yours. An equivalent daily sickness benefit insurance, agreed in writing or by collective agreement, can replace it (Art. 324a para. 4 CO). After an accident, accident insurance pays 80% of insured earnings from the third day (Art. 16 and 17 UVG).
What can I do if my Swiss employer simply ignores this wage demand?
File a conciliation request at the employer's seat or where you usually work (Art. 34 CPC); the cantons' courts offer free forms. Up to CHF 30'000.00 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. AVIG).
How long can I still claim unpaid wages in Switzerland, and does signing a receipt end my claims?
Wage claims are time-barred after five years (Art. 128 no. 3 CO), each from when it fell due. During the employment and for a month after it ends you cannot waive claims under mandatory law or a collective agreement (Art. 341 para. 1 CO); signing a receipt for the balance (Saldoquittung, quittance pour solde) changes nothing. This letter does not interrupt the limitation period: debt enforcement, a conciliation request or the employer's acknowledgement does (Art. 135 CO).

How you can sign this document

  • Print it and sign by hand. The signature lines in the document are left blank on purpose — sign on them in ink.
  • Sign it yourself with a qualified electronic signature. If you already hold a QES — Evrotrust, B-Trust, StampIT, ZealiD or any qualified provider on the EU Trusted List, on a card, a USB token, in a mobile app or in the cloud — our signing guide explains step by step how to sign this exact file without invalidating it. Step-by-step help, and a way to check it worked

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  • Demand for unpaid wages or overtime, in German (Switzerland)

    For employees in Switzerland whose employer owes them wages, overtime or pay during illness, in German: a written demand for payment with a breakdown, total, deadline and bank account. Overtime with the 25% supplement (Art. 321c para. 3 CO), pay during illness on your canton's court 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 procedure that may follow is free of court costs up to CHF 30'000.00.

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