A portion of your gross hourly wage is allocated as holiday pay and paid out directly for one-off short assignments. However, if your assignments are of longer duration, holiday pay is deferred and paid out only after the holiday has been taken. In this article, we explain the reasons for this and when deferral is necessary. Learn how to claim your deferred holiday pay in this article.

Holidays are meant for rest and recovery and, according to Art. 329d para. 2 of the Swiss Code of Obligations, cannot be compensated in money during the term of an employment relationship. This prohibition on compensation is mandatory, except upon termination.

According to Article 13 of the CBA on Staff Leasing, the payment of holiday for one-off employment contracts of up to three months may be paid directly with the salary.

The holiday pay accrual comes into effect at Coople in the following cases:

If a job with one or more hiring companies (regardless of the job location or sub company) is agreed from the outset for a period of more than 12 weeks, the holiday pay is applied from the first shift. This means that the share of the holiday pay per shift is credited to a personal holiday account.
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Example 1:
​You work as a driver for the hiring company "Panda Express", with locations varying between Dietikon, Horgen, Uster, and Zurich. The job takes place from 1 March 2025 to 30 June 2025, over a period of 4 months. During this period, your holiday pay is deferred and will only be paid out when you take your holidays.

If you have completed multiple short jobs with one or more hiring companies (regardless of the job location or sub company) and the break between these jobs is a maximum of 7 calendar days each time, the holiday pay accrual is applied from the first shift after the 12 weeks have elapsed. Here too, the proportion of holiday pay per shift is credited to the holiday account.

Example 2:
​You first work as a chauffeur for the company "Panda Express" from 1 March 2025 to 31 March 2025, then from 7 April 2025 to 25 April 2025 you work as a food delivery driver for "X Food Delivery". Between 30 April 2025 and 1 May 2025, you will help as a removal helper at "Z Moving AG" and on 3 and 4 May 2025 you will work as a logistician at an event. From 9 May 2025 to 30 May 2025, you will work again as a chauffeur at "Panda Express". As the total duration of all assignments is longer than 12 weeks and the interruptions are a maximum of 7 calendar days each, your holiday pay will be deferred from the first shift after the end of the 12 weeks (in this case from 26 May 2024) and will no longer be paid out directly with your salary.

At the end of the payslip, you will find an overview of your holiday account as well as your remaining holiday balance.

If this section is not listed on your payslip, it means that no holiday pay accrual has been made in your case. Your holiday pay has been paid directly with the gross hourly wage.

Yes, holiday pay is subject to both social security contributions and taxes. This means that regardless of whether the holiday pay is paid immediately or later, it is always subject to statutory deductions and must be taxed.

Holiday pay is considered part of the gross income and is therefore subject to the same social security deductions as the regular salary. These include:

Holiday pay is subject to income tax. It is added to the taxable income and taxed at the applicable rate.

Your holiday pay remains in your holiday account until you take the holiday days. Exceptions are:

If your job is completed and no further planned or confirmed shifts follow for two consecutive weeks (14 calendar days), the accumulated holiday pay will be automatically paid out with the next payroll, even without a holiday request. Holiday pay accrual resets when a new employment contract starts.

Ideally, any unused holiday days should be taken during the current employment period. If you still have remaining holiday balance at the end of the year, your holiday account will be closed at the end of December and the remaining balance will be paid out. The holiday pay accrual starts anew on 01.01. of the new year.

The holiday pay accrual continues during the continued salary payment. If you are entitled to daily allowances from the insurance during illness or accident, the holiday pay is already included in the daily allowance. In this case, the holiday pay is not shown separately or set aside.

During a period of illness, no salary is provided during the first two days (waiting days). As waiting days are generally a period without salary payment, no holiday pay can be claimed for these days either. The conditions for the payment of holidays are defined in this article.

Example Illness:
​You are working as a driver at "Panda Express" in Zurich from 1 January 2025 to 30 June 2025. Unfortunately, you fall ill on 26 February 2025 and your medical certificate states that you are unable to work until 28 February 2025. The holiday pay accrual continues during your absence, as you are still working for the hiring company until the end of the job or until termination. You will receive continued salary payment from the 3rd day of illness (28 February 2025). The continued salary payment lasts a maximum of 30 days (including two waiting days). If the illness lasts longer, the loss of salary is covered by the daily sickness allowance. No holiday deferral is made for the daily sickness allowance, as this compensation is already included in the insurance calculation.

Example Accident:
​You’re working the same job as in the example above. While loading the vehicle, a box falls on your right foot on 2 April 2025. Due to the bruising, you must wear a foot brace for a week and cannot drive until 11 April 2025. For this accident, you will receive continued payment of your salary for the first two days (waiting period) and a daily allowance from the accident insurance from the third day after the accident. No holiday reserve is made for the accident daily allowance, as this compensation is already included in the insurance calculation.

Holidays are meant for rest and recovery. If you become ill or have an accident during your holidays and as a result, the purpose of rest and recovery is not achieved, the holiday pay for these days will be credited back to your holiday account. The condition for this is that a doctor certifies complete incapacity for work. As soon as you are healthy and able to relax again, you can make up for your holidays/claim your holiday pay.

If your doctor confirms in writing that you are fit for holidays despite illness or accident, you will receive your holiday pay. In this case, salary continuation and daily allowance for the corresponding days will be suspended, and we will inform the insurance company about this.

In the case of wage garnishment, a portion of the debtor's income is seized to settle the debts. In this process, the debtor's subsistence level is considered, which can vary from canton to canton. Anything exceeding this subsistence level can be seized. If holiday pay is paid during a wage garnishment, it is treated as income and can also be seized, provided it exceeds the subsistence level.