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Employed or self-employed?

Not your choice, and not the contract’s: the Ausgleichskasse decides by who bears the risk and who gives the orders. What each status gives and takes — AHV halves, unemployment, accident, pension, holidays — the six criteria, the Uber judgment, and a quick test.

Published Last updated 5 min read
Painting of a quiet Swiss street with a young man in a company uniform stepping out of a white company van on the left and a young woman in a hoodie loading her own cargo bike with a toolbox on the right
Same street, same job, two statuses: the van is the company’s, the bike is hers.
Before we start · In plain words

Employed means someone else carries the risk and gives the orders. Self-employed means you do. Everything else follows from that.

The question matters because the two statuses have different safety nets and different paperwork — and because it is not yours to choose. The Ausgleichskasse looks at how the work is really done. This page shows what each status gives and takes, the six questions the AHV asks, and a quick test for your own situation.

Employee
A payslip, and a safety netAHV split in half with the employer. Unemployment insurance. Accident insurance from the first hour. Pension fund above CHF 22 680. Four weeks’ holiday, sick pay, notice periods. In exchange: the employer decides where, when and how.
Self-employed
An invoice, and the whole rate10 % AHV, all yours. No unemployment insurance, no automatic accident cover, no pension fund, no holidays, no notice. In exchange: your clients, your prices, your hours — and the risk when a job goes wrong.
Both
The most common tasker set-upAn employed main job that carries the insurance, plus self-employed side work on your own invoices. Under CHF 2 500 a year nothing to register; above it the Ausgleichskasse. The best of both, as long as the main job stays.
01 · Three numbers

Half, nothing, and one judgment.

5.3 %
is the employee’s share of AHV/IV/EO — the employer pays the same again. Self-employed: 10 %, all yours
AHV 2.01 · 2.02 [6]
0
unemployment insurance for the self-employed. Employees pay 1.1 % and are covered
AHV 2.09 [1]
2023
the year the Federal Supreme Court said Uber drivers are employees: who gives the orders decides, not the app
BGer 9C_70/2022 [4]
02 · The six questions

Answer them as the Ausgleichskasse would.

03 · The criteria in detail

What each question really asks.

  • Who bears the risk?If a job goes wrong and you are not paid, is that your loss? If you have bought tools, rent a workshop, have fixed costs — you bear risk. An employee bears none: the wage comes whatever happens. [2]
  • Who gives the orders?Do you decide when and how the work is done, or does somebody set your schedule, your route, your method and check it? Organisational dependence is the heart of the test — it is what decided the Uber case. [1] [4]
  • How many clients?Several clients, found by you, each a small share of your income: self-employed. One client that gives you nearly all your work: that looks like an employer, whatever the contract says. [3]
  • Whose name on the door?You appear in your own name — invoices, business card, website. Someone who works under the client’s name, in the client’s uniform, with the client’s tools, is an employee. [3]
  • Whose tools, whose premises?Own investments and own workspace point to self-employment. Everything provided by the client points the other way. [3]
  • The contract does not decide“Freelancer agreement” on top of the page means nothing to the Ausgleichskasse. It looks at how the work is actually done. If it decides you are an employee, your client owes employer contributions with interest — which is why serious clients care about your status too. [1] [3]
04 · Side by side

What each status gives you.

  • AHV / IV / EOEmployee: 5.3 % from you, 5.3 % from the employer. Self-employed: 10 %, all yours (sliding scale below CHF 60 500, minimum CHF 530).
    both
  • Unemployment insuranceEmployee: 1.1 % + 1.1 %, benefits if you lose the job. Self-employed: none.
    employee only
  • Accident insuranceEmployee: at work from the first hour, free time from 8 h a week. Self-employed: voluntary Suva/UVG or via health insurance.
    employee only
  • Pension fund (BVG)Employee: compulsory above CHF 22 680 a year per employer. Self-employed: voluntary; pillar 3a up to CHF 36 288 instead.
    employee only
  • Holidays, sick pay, noticeEmployee: four weeks, continued wages when ill after three months, one to three months’ notice. Self-employed: none of it.
    employee only
  • The rate, the clients, the hoursEmployee: the employer’s. Self-employed: yours — and the whole invoice, not a wage after deductions.
    self-employed

Registering as self-employed: Registering with the Ausgleichskasse. Insurance for the self-employed: Insurance for side work. The seven steps: Becoming self-employed in 7 steps.

05 · Questions people ask

Short answers.

How does the Ausgleichskasse decide whether I am employed or self-employed?

By how the work is really done, not by the contract: do you bear the economic risk, do you decide how and when you work, do you have several clients, do you appear in your own name, do you own the tools or premises? Risk and freedom from instructions are the two decisive criteria.

Can I have an employed main job and be self-employed on the side?

Yes — it is the most common tasker set-up. The main job carries your insurance; side income on your own invoices up to CHF 2 500 a year needs no registration, above it you register with the Ausgleichskasse as self-employed (secondary).

What do I lose as a self-employed person?

The employer’s half of AHV, unemployment insurance, automatic accident cover, the pension fund, paid holidays, sick pay and notice periods. What you gain is the whole rate and the choice of clients and hours.

Are platform workers employees?

It depends on control. In 2023 the Federal Supreme Court ruled that Uber drivers are employees because the platform sets prices, assigns rides and sanctions drivers. A platform that only brokers contact between you and a household, leaving price and method to you, does not make you its employee.

What risk does my client take?

If the Ausgleichskasse later classifies the relationship as employment, the client owes employer contributions with interest for the past years. That is why some companies ask for your Ausgleichskasse recognition letter before they hire you as a freelancer.

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References

Where the rules come from.

  1. [1]
    AHV/IV information centre — Merkblatt 2.09 — employed or self-employed: the criteria (economic risk, organisational dependence), contracts alone do not decide; consequences for AHV, ALV, UVG. www.ahv-iv.ch
  2. [2]
    Federal Social Insurance Office (BSV) — WSN — Rz 1066: self-employed is whoever bears the business risk and is entitled to give the operational orders. www.koordination.ch
  3. [3]
    Ausgleichskasse Basel-Stadt — Selbständige — recognition criteria and the consequences of a refusal for the client. ak-bs.ch
  4. [4]
    Federal Supreme Court — Judgments 9C_70/2022 and 9C_76/2022 of 22 March 2023 — Uber drivers are employees for social insurance; the platform is the employer. www.bger.ch
  5. [5]
    SRF — Bundesgericht: Uber muss AHV-Beiträge für Fahrer entrichten (2023). www.srf.ch
  6. [6]
    AHV/IV information centre — Merkblatt 2.01 — employee contributions 5.3 % + 1.1 % ALV; CHF 2 500 line (2026). www.ahv-iv.ch
  7. [7]
    AHV/IV information centre — Merkblatt 2.02 — self-employed: 10 %, sliding scale, minimum CHF 530 (2026). www.ahv-iv.ch
  8. [8]
    Suva — BU/NBU — employees insured from the first hour; self-employed only voluntarily. www.suva.ch
  9. [9]
    Calxia — BVG-Eintrittsschwelle 2026 — CHF 22 680 per employer. calxia.com
  10. [10]
    Swiss Confederation — Code of Obligations (OR), Art. 329a (four weeks’ holiday), Art. 335c (notice periods), Art. 324a (sick pay) — employee rights. www.fedlex.admin.ch

Checked against the sources above on 5 October 2026; figures are for 2026 and change each January. The “last updated” date at the top changes whenever a figure is refreshed. This page is general information, not legal advice — the cantonal Ausgleichskasse decides each case on its facts.