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Insurance for side work.

Accident, liability, unemployment, pension: four insurances decide what happens when a side job goes wrong. Employed on the side, almost everything is arranged for you. Self-employed, almost nothing is. Here is the rule set in plain words, with a three-question check.

Published Last updated 7 min read
Painting of a young woman in a green work vest and safety glasses on a stepladder trimming a tall hedge with a cordless hedge trimmer in a sunny garden in front of a modern Swiss house
A stepladder, a hedge trimmer and a client’s garden — three good reasons to know who pays if something goes wrong.
Before we start · In plain words

Four insurances matter for side work. Most of them happen without you — except when you work for yourself.

When a company or a family employs you, the law makes them insure you: accidents at work from the first hour, unemployment, and — above a certain wage — a pension fund. When you send your own invoices, nobody does it for you. That is the whole difference, and it decides which of the four boxes below you need to tick yourself.

  1. Accident.Employers insure you at work from hour one. Free-time accidents: through a job of 8 hours a week or more — otherwise through your health insurance.
  2. Liability.As an employee the employer carries the risk. On your own account you need business liability insurance — the private one does not pay.
  3. Unemployment.Employees are insured. The self-employed are not.
  4. Pension.AHV is always there. A pension fund only above CHF 22 680 with one employer; self-employed people save in pillar 3a.
01 · The four insurances

What each one does, in one paragraph.

AccidentWho pays the doctor and your lost wage if you fall off the ladder? At work: the employer’s insurance, from the first hour. In your free time: the job only if you work 8 hours a week there — otherwise your health insurance, with “accident” switched on. [1]
LiabilityWho pays if you scratch the client’s parquet or drop their TV? As an employee: the employer’s insurance. As a self-employed tasker: you — unless you have business liability insurance. Private liability policies exclude paid work. [8]
UnemploymentEmployees pay 1.1 % and get benefits if they lose the job. Self-employed people pay nothing and get nothing — a failed side business brings no benefit. [5]
Pension fundCompulsory only above CHF 22 680 a year with one employer. Below it you may ask the Auffangeinrichtung to insure you anyway; self-employed people use pillar 3a instead. [11]
02 · The numbers

Seven figures to remember.

8 h
a week with one employer is the line for accident insurance in your free time. Under it, only accidents at work and on the way there are covered by the job
Suva · UVV Art. 13 [1]
CHF 0
is what your private liability insurance usually pays when you break something while working for money. It covers private life, not jobs
Helvetia AVB [8]
CHF 22 680
a year from one employer before a pension fund (BVG) becomes compulsory. Most side jobs stay under it
BVG 2026 [11]
1.1 %
of a side wage goes to unemployment insurance — and the employer pays the same again. Self-employed: no unemployment insurance at all
AHV leaflet 2.09 [5]
≈ CHF 100
a year is what a family pays to insure its cleaner or babysitter against accidents. Compulsory, however few hours
Mobiliar · AHV 2.06 [7]
CHF 300
a year, roughly, for business liability insurance for a one-person side business
Gryps [9]
CHF 36 288
the most a self-employed person without a pension fund may put into pillar 3a in 2026 — 20 % of net income
finpension [12]
03 · Am I covered?

Three questions, then the gaps.

Describe your main job, the side job and its hours. The page lists what is already insured and what you must arrange yourself.

04 · The rules in detail

Eight things the four boxes cannot say.

  • The 8-hour rule, job by jobThe hours are not added up. Each employer looks at its own job: 8 hours or more a week, and that employer insures your free-time accidents (NBU) and deducts about 1–2 % for it. Under 8 hours, the job covers only accidents at work and on the way to work. [1] [3]
  • Main job 8 h or more: your free time is coveredYour main employer’s NBU insurance pays for every accident outside work — on the bike, on the ski slope, and also while you do your own small jobs for clients. It pays the doctor and 80 % of your main wage; the side income you lose is not replaced. [1]
  • No job with 8 hours: switch on “accident” in your health insuranceStudents, people with only small jobs, self-employed people: tell your health insurer to include accident cover. It costs a few francs a month and pays the doctor — but not your lost income. [1]
  • Self-employed: no automatic cover at allNobody insures you against accidents or illness unless you do. Options: voluntary Suva/UVG insurance (daily allowance included, from about CHF 2 000 a year on a full income), a private daily-allowance policy, or at least the accident cover in your health insurance. [5] [6]
  • Working for a family: the family must insure youA private household that employs a cleaner, babysitter or gardener must take out accident insurance for them — about CHF 100 a year — and settle AHV from the first franc. Many families use the simplified procedure for both. [4] [7]
  • Liability: the part most taskers forgetA broken window, a scratched car, a flooded bathroom. Private liability insurance says: private life only. Some policies tolerate tiny side activities (music lessons, flea market) up to about CHF 12 000 a year — ask in writing. Anyone doing paid work at other people’s homes on their own account needs business liability insurance, from roughly CHF 300 a year. [8] [9]
  • Your own carDriving to a job is private use. Delivering, transporting people or goods for money is commercial use — tell your motor insurer or an accident may not be covered.
  • Sick pay and maternityA side employer must continue your wage when you are ill, in proportion, after three months of service (three weeks in the first year). Maternity allowance counts side income too: 80 % of your average income, up to CHF 220 a day, for 14 weeks. [13] [14]

AHV is explained in The CHF 2 500 AHV rule, explained, the loyalty and hour rules in Side jobs in Switzerland: what is allowed.

05 · Questions people ask

Short answers.

I work 4 hours a week in a café beside a full-time job. Am I insured against accidents?

Yes. Your full-time employer’s insurance covers your free-time accidents (NBU). The café insures you for accidents while working there and on the way, from the first hour. Nothing to do.

I only have small side jobs and no main job. Who insures me?

Each job insures you against accidents at work from the first hour. For accidents in your free time you must include accident cover in your health insurance (KVG) — tell your insurer. It pays the doctor, not your lost income.

Does my private liability insurance cover damage I cause while working for a client?

Usually not. Private liability policies cover private life and exclude professional or business activities; a few tolerate tiny side activities up to about CHF 12 000 a year. If you do paid work at other people’s homes on your own account, take out business liability insurance (Betriebshaftpflicht) — roughly CHF 300 a year.

Do I pay into a pension fund for a CHF 15 000 side job?

No. The pension fund (BVG) is compulsory only above CHF 22 680 a year with one employer. You may insure yourself voluntarily through the Auffangeinrichtung (BVG Art. 46), or save in pillar 3a.

I employ a cleaner for 3 hours a week. Do I need insurance?

Yes. As a private household you must insure her against accidents (about CHF 100 a year with any licensed insurer) and pay AHV from the first franc. The simplified procedure with the Ausgleichskasse handles AHV, tax and — in the “plus” variant — accident premiums together.

Can I claim unemployment benefit if my side business fails?

No. Self-employed people do not pay into unemployment insurance and get nothing from it. Only wages as an employee build up a claim.

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References

Where the rules come from.

  1. [1]
    Suva — BU/NBU-Beurteilung — occupational accidents from the first hour; non-occupational accidents only from 8 hours a week with one employer; under 8 hours, accident cover via health insurance. www.suva.ch
  2. [2]
    Swiss Confederation — Accident Insurance Act (UVG), Art. 1a — compulsory insurance of employees; Art. 4 — voluntary insurance for the self-employed. www.fedlex.admin.ch
  3. [3]
    Swiss Confederation — Accident Insurance Ordinance (UVV), Art. 13 — non-occupational accidents insured from 8 hours a week. www.fedlex.admin.ch
  4. [4]
    AHV/IV information centre — Merkblatt 2.06 — household employees (2026): AHV from the first franc, accident insurance compulsory, standard minimum wages CHF 20.35–24.55 an hour. www.ahv-iv.ch
  5. [5]
    AHV/IV information centre — Merkblatt 2.09 — the self-employed and social insurance: no ALV, voluntary UVG, AHV sliding scale. www.ahv-iv.ch
  6. [6]
    Suva — Unternehmerversicherung — voluntary accident insurance for the self-employed: premiums, insured earnings CHF 66 690 to 148 200. www.suva.ch
  7. [7]
    Die Mobiliar — Unfallversicherung für Hausangestellte — from about CHF 100 a year. www.mobiliar.ch
  8. [8]
    Helvetia — Private liability insurance, general conditions — covers private life, not professional or business activities; narrow exception for small side activities. www.helvetia.com
  9. [9]
    Gryps — Betriebshaftpflicht — private liability ends at about CHF 12 000 turnover; business liability for small firms from about CHF 300 a year. www.gryps.ch
  10. [10]
    Beobachter — Arbeitslos und doch arbeiten — interim earnings, 70/80 % top-up. www.beobachter.ch
  11. [11]
    Calxia — BVG-Eintrittsschwelle 2026 — CHF 22 680 per employer; coordination deduction CHF 26 460; opt-in via Auffangeinrichtung (BVG Art. 46). calxia.com
  12. [12]
    finpension — Pillar 3a maximum 2026 — CHF 7 258 with a pension fund; 20 % of net income up to CHF 36 288 without. finpension.ch
  13. [13]
    Die Mobiliar — Lohnfortzahlung bei Krankheit — OR Art. 324a, Basler/Berner/Zürcher scale; daily sickness allowance is voluntary. www.mobiliar.ch
  14. [14]
    AHV/IV information centre — Merkblatt 6.02 — maternity allowance: 80 % of income, max. CHF 220 a day, 14 weeks; conditions. www.ahv-iv.ch

Checked against the sources above on 4 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 insurance advice — your insurer, Suva or your cantonal Ausgleichskasse give binding answers, and policy wordings differ.