How to organise a part-time nanny in Zurich

How to plan a sustainable part-time role

The plan combines the family's actual week with official employer duties. It does not replace an individual contract or payroll assessment.

• Coverage: Each necessary block runs from the earliest start to the final handover.
• Reliability: Regular guaranteed hours are separated from optional extras.
• Duties: Childcare, travel and household tasks are named rather than hidden under flexibility.
• Employer duties: Insurance, contributions, pension and right to work are checked before the start.

Map the real weekly need

Enter school, nursery, parents' work and regular activities, then add collection, travel, meal preparation and handover. These edge periods are work when they form part of the role. Check whether two collection points can actually be connected in the planned time on foot, by public transport or with an authorised vehicle.

Add a small, explicitly paid buffer for predictable lateness. A recurring schedule is easier to assess and staff than shifts rebuilt every week. The buffer is not unlimited availability: set its end time and the procedure if a parent runs later.

Create a second version for school holidays. The family may need a full day instead of after-school care, or no care during its own holiday. The contract should explain how these differences affect guaranteed hours and pay.

Write a part-time profile with clear expectations

State the children's ages, location, fixed days, earliest start, latest finish and start date. Then list the work: direct care, school pickup, activities, children's meals and child-related tidying.

Separate essentials from preferences. Language, driving or first-aid training may matter, but qualified should refer to verifiable training or experience, not a vague quality promise.

• State fixed hours and a realistic range.
• Describe location and required journeys.
• Separate child-related and general household work.
• Clarify work authorisation and availability.
• Contact references with consent.

Sources for this section: Staatssekretariat für Migration

Compare fixed days, annual plans and flexible calls

Fixed weekdays offer the clearest basis. An annual plan can distinguish school and holiday weeks but needs a clear rule for monthly pay and time off. Call-only work is a weaker fit for ongoing core care because neither income nor availability is predictable.

A continuous morning-to-early-afternoon block may suit a preschool child. For a school-age child, add travel, waiting, collection, activities and handover to the after-school block. Two short split shifts can occupy most of the nanny's day despite containing few care hours, so discuss them explicitly.

Flexibility should mean an agreed range, not unlimited availability. Set notice, the right to decline extras and cancellation treatment. If nursery, school or grandparents share the week, name the responsible person, confirmation channel and backup at every transition.

A small schedule is still employment

A private household generally registers paid domestic staff with the compensation office and obtains occupational accident insurance. Below eight weekly hours with the same employer, mandatory cover is limited to occupational accidents and diseases; from eight hours the household leaflet also requires non-occupational cover.

Mandatory pension cover may apply when annual pay exceeds CHF 22,680 in 2026, subject to exceptions. If families share a nanny, each household assesses its own employment and duties.

Sources for this section: Informationsstelle AHV/IV · Bundesamt für Sozialversicherungen

Put the essential part-time rules in writing

The contract should cover workload, normal days, pay, holidays, absences, probation, termination and extra hours. State what happens when the family does not need agreed hours or school closes.

The federal domestic-work standard contract excludes people mainly responsible for childcare, so its minimum wages do not automatically apply to every nanny. Mixed roles require a review of actual duties, canton and contract.

Sources for this section: SECO

The family check before day one

Ask candidates the same core questions about days, age experience, transitions, journeys and realistic daily situations. Ask how they would handle a late school release, a platform change or a parent who is briefly unreachable. A paid trial can help both sides but does not replace a contract or reference checks.

Then record the weekly plan, emergency contacts, collection permissions, allergies, transport and communication rhythm. Rehearse the real route when punctuality depends on a connection or several institutions. State who provides tickets, child seats, a car and reimbursement for work travel.

A childcare profile brings these needs and the planning budget together before an optional enquiry. Schedule a review after the first shifts so an underestimated journey or rushed handover can be corrected without renegotiating the entire week.

• Check identity and right to work.
• Verify references with consent.
• Arrange insurance and compensation registration.
• Define paid time and extra hours.
• Schedule an early feedback meeting.

Sources for this section: Staatssekretariat für Migration · Informationsstelle AHV/IV

Your next step

A good part-time role is proportionate to the need and complete enough to be dependable. When hours, journeys, duties, changes and employer obligations are visible, the family and nanny can assess the same week.