Salary calculator by Ritzl & Gietz
You nurse, treat, rescue. In Switzerland the same work is paid differently. Three entries, and you see what is usual for your profession here, with its source, and how far today's salary sits from it. Nothing is stored.
Three entries
Salaries per year
Count Christmas or holiday bonuses as additional salaries.
Preset to 0.9437 CHF per EUR as of 2026-10-01, source EZB-Referenzkurs (frankfurter.app). Overwrite it with today's rate.
All figures gross, before taxes, social contributions, health insurance premiums and living costs. The calculator works only with your entries, stores nothing and is not legal or tax advice. Questions: hello@ritzl-gietz.ch.
Look closely
A Swiss monthly salary often comes with more weekly hours and fewer holiday days. Anyone with an offer can compare it here to the hour.
Legal minimum in Germany: 20 days on a five-day week.
Monthly salaries per year
Set by the contract or collective agreement; 42 hours are widespread in hospitals.
Legal minimum in Switzerland: 4 weeks, i.e. 20 days.
With a gross monthly salary from an offer the comparison appears here to the hour.
The road
No application marathon. One profile, recognition alongside it, and the offers come to you.
Create a profile
Training, experience, wishes: entered once. We review it by hand, and you stay hidden from your current employer.
Start recognition
Nursing and therapy: Swiss Red Cross. Physicians: MEBEKO. Start early; your profile states where you stand.
Receive offers
Employers send concrete offers with salary, workload and start date. The employer applies for the permit with you.
We accompany you
In your profile you state where you stand and what you would like help with. Our team gets in touch personally, free of charge for you, and stays at your side until you have arrived.
Recognition
Precheck on precheck.ch, application to the Swiss Red Cross or MEBEKO: we tell you which documents are missing and accompany the application to the decision.
Permit
Residence permit B or cross-border permit G: the employer applies for it with you after the offer. We explain beforehand what your citizenship means.
Housing
No flat yet? You tell us in your profile, and we help with the search, the application file and the questions Swiss landlords ask.
Health insurance and insurances
Basic insurance is compulsory within three months of registering; cross-border workers have a choice. We go through the decision with you.
Moving and registration
Registration at the municipality, customs for household goods, car, children and school: a list for your case, and somebody to ask.
The first weeks
Bank account, withholding tax, pension fund, the first payslip: we stay reachable until daily life runs.
One profile at Ritzl & Gietz, reviewed by hand, and verified Swiss employers send you concrete offers with the salary in francs, workload and start date. Your current employer learns nothing.
Already in Switzerland? To the salary check: where do you stand?
Reference figures from publicly available salary books, association recommendations, collective agreements and salary portals, as of 2026. They are orientation, not a promise: actual pay differs by canton, employer, workload and experience. Zurich, Geneva and Basel tend to lie above the national figures.
Good to know
Holiday, working time, premiums, pension, health insurance, permit, taxes, recognition: the rules a move turns on, each with its legal basis.
Swiss law guarantees at least four weeks of paid holiday a year, five until the age of 20. In Germany the legal minimum is 20 working days on a five-day week. Anything above that is set by the contract or the collective agreement.
OR Art. 329a, BUrlG § 3
The statutory maximum in Switzerland is 45 or 50 hours a week depending on the category. The contractual hours are lower and are set by the contract or collective agreement; 42 hours are widespread in hospitals. That is why the calculator turns every salary into an hourly figure.
ArG Art. 9
A 13th monthly salary is not required by Swiss law. Whether and how it is paid is set by the contract or collective agreement, so enter it as a number of monthly salaries rather than assuming it.
Temporary night work carries a legal wage supplement of 25 percent; permanent or regularly recurring night work a time credit of 10 percent. Temporary Sunday work carries a 50 percent wage supplement. Collective agreements and employers often grant more; your contract is what counts.
ArG Art. 17b und 19
Alongside the state pension you pay into an occupational pension fund in Switzerland. The employer covers at least half of the contributions; many cover more. Ask for the fund's regulations, they belong to every offer.
BVG Art. 66
Basic health insurance is mandatory in Switzerland and is paid as a private premium rather than deducted from pay. Cross-border commuters from Germany can, under certain conditions, choose between Swiss and German insurance. That is why the calculator deliberately shows gross figures.
KVG Art. 3
Living in Germany and working in Switzerland requires a cross-border permit (permit G) and, as a rule, returning home at least once a week. Moving to Switzerland with an employment contract, EU or EFTA nationals normally receive a residence permit (permit B). The employer applies for it with you.
FZA, VEP
Cross-border commuters from Germany generally pay income tax in Germany; Switzerland withholds a limited source tax that is credited in Germany. Anyone moving to Switzerland pays Swiss taxes, which differ by canton and municipality. The calculator is not tax advice.
DBA Deutschland-Schweiz Art. 15a
For nursing and most therapy professions the Swiss Red Cross (SRK) assesses foreign diplomas; physicians, dentists and pharmacists apply to MEBEKO at the Federal Office of Public Health; other professions go through SERI or the responsible body. Recognition takes time, and your profile can state where you stand with it.
GesBG, MedBG
Frequently asked
Gross monthly salary times the number of salaries a year gives the annual gross in euros; times the exchange rate gives it in francs. The calculator above does exactly that and shows the rate it uses, which you can overwrite at any time.
Because a Swiss position often has more weekly hours than a German one and fewer holiday days. A higher monthly salary can be worth less per hour worked, or more. Only the hourly rate after holiday shows what your time is worth in each place.
Yes. Foreign nursing diplomas are recognised by the Swiss Red Cross (SRK) before you may work under the protected professional title. Physicians apply to MEBEKO, other professions to SERI or a specialist body. Start early; employers ask about the status in their offer.
At least four weeks a year by law, i.e. 20 days on a five-day week, five weeks until the age of 20. Many collective agreements in healthcare grant more. The figure is in your contract, and the calculator uses what you enter.
No. It is not required by law but a matter of contract or collective agreement. Check whether the annual salary in an offer already includes the 13th month or whether it comes on top.
Living in Germany, working in Switzerland and returning home at least once a week as a rule makes you a cross-border commuter and requires permit G. Moving to Switzerland, you normally receive permit B with your employment contract. The employer files the application with you.
No, deliberately. Taxes, social contributions, health insurance premiums and living costs depend on where you live, the canton, your family and your insurance choice. A net figure that guesses all of that would be a number we could not stand behind. Gross is honest; discuss the rest with a tax adviser.
No. The calculator runs in your browser. Nothing is sent to us, and you need no account.
You create a profile with your training, experience and wishes, we review it by hand, and verified Swiss employers send you concrete offers with salary, workload and start date. Your current employer sees none of it, and for professionals it is free.