A data point: my cleaning lady does 2 hours / week for a 4 room place. Each weeks she cleans the bathroom, the kitchen and 2 rooms.
I actually got a cleaning lady when I was switching to working 80%. I wanted to go to 60% initially, but it wasn’t too common. So I told myself, that by hiring a cleaner, I can free one more hour of free time / week, while I’d keep the difference in pay between myself and the cleaner.
We had one but she quit on us because she found a better job (we only employed her 2h/week). So we need to find another one, if you guys know someone in Zurich with some available time that you can recommend, please PM me.
Thank you all for your very insightful feedbacks.
In the end, we will go with a cleaning lady. You guys have helped me rationalize this.
First of all, being cheap and thinking about FIRE, I need to rationalize or justify hiring a cleaning lady. In the end though, I think it makes sense while my toddler is still young (under 3). The extra time and energy we save to spend with him is well worth it.
Here is how I plan to go about it (sharing it here since there seems to be quite a bit of interest):
Hourly wage contract:
https://www.seco.admin.ch/seco/de/home/Arbeit/Personenfreizugigkeit_Arbeitsbeziehungen/schwarzarbeit/Arbeit_korrekt_melden/Private_Arbeitgebende/Mustervertrag.html
Register her for AHV:
Seems that I can either do it by paper or use AHV Easy. Will give AHV Easy a try.
Get accident insurance:
Any provider will work, only 100 CHF per year. It seems that it’s not specific to who we hire as long so we can keep it even if we switch to cleaning lady.
Please correct me if I got anything wrong.
Batmaid, as a service, pay per hour
Thanks SwissTeslaBull. I’ve used Batmaid before but that was a few years back. Maybe things have changed. What I didn’t like about them is the high turnover and sometimes I got a good one sometimes not as good (talking on the phone while cleaning). I prefer to stick to the same cleaning lady.
That’s pretty much it. With AHV, you want to register for the simplified process (keyword “Vereinfachtes Abrechnungsverfahren”).
I’ve been using the direct employment for years now.
And do you do this at year end or do you do it as soon as you’ve hired someone?
We’re going a different route in this topic (can’t speak for singles/couples without kids).
It’s important to us, that our child learns that a home needs to be looked after and that it doesn’t get clean by itself. This obviously depends on the kid’s age, but the older it gets, it will have to take on more and more responsibilities in the household. In those duties I don’t count tidying up the children’s room, that was its job from an early age. 
Not sure if this website (ahveasy) is a official one. Looks like a private company is behind the website…
There is no national AHV where you declare the salaries. Each canton has their own. The AK Bern for example provides also a web tool for the declaration.
It is not that complicated to engage a employer yourself. I would always prefer to do all on my own if I decide to be employer my own. May be some hassle first, but interesting and useful to learn how this admin works.:
We are currently also looking for a cleaning help. Next week a company comes to take a look. The will charge CHF 50.- an hour. I think 2-3hrs every second week should be enough for us. Advantage vs private employed person:
Well see if the meet my expectations.
I see the benefit of engaging with a cleaning company as long as their cleaners are paid fairly. I remember I had Batmaid cleaners who complained about the cut Batmaid took and that explained the high turnover. Again, experience from a few years back.
Thanks for the eLohnausweis link!
I see the benefit of engaging with a cleaning company as long as their cleaners are paid fairly.
My thought exactly! I already pay for cleaning, so I also make sure I minimize any paperwork.
I can recommend “Proper Job” (sorry, German website only).
They seem to navigate the usual issues with this particular work well such as staff turnover. I have a contract with them, and if that person quits, Proper Job looks for a replacement. If that person goes on vacation, Proper Job looks or a substitute if I want one. Also, if you need more help in one week or go on vacation, you adjust the commitment accordingly.
If you’ve found someone already and want to save yourself the administrative hassle, Proper Job may hire them so you still keep your trusted helper.
Enough of the advertisement 
(seriously, no kickback for me if you hire them).
Cheers,
J.
I would not consider Batmaid as cleaning company. They are more the uber in this sector. I think they take CHF 7-8/h.
I guess its debatable, just like whether Uber drivers are hired by the customers who use the App or Uber.
What do they charge?
47-53 CHF per hour (lower end for more than 4 hours / week, upper end for 1 hour / week).
You’re billed monthly, e. g. 392 CHF for 2 hours per week.
Once every 6 months, you receive a summary of payments and actual work done. If during the last six months, more ore less work was done at one specific day, or days were skipped (sickness, vacation), the resulting balance is settled = You either pay the difference or receive the money you’ve paid in excess.
I find this transparent and convenient. It also minimized their administrative work (as opposed to monthly or quarterly corrections).
J.
Do you mind answering one more question? How does sick leave/accident work for a hourly contract? With an hourly contract and if regular hours are not specified, I guess you can always determine between the employer and employee when and if they should come.
The standard contract includes the following clause:
6. Lohn bei Verhinderung des Arbeitnehmers/der Arbeitnehmerin an der Arbeitsleistung
Die Lohnfortzahlung bei unverschuldeter Verhinderung des Arbeitnehmers/der Arbeitnehmerin aus Gründen, die in seiner/ihrer Person liegen, wie Krankheit, Unfall, Erfüllung gesetzlicher Pflichten, Ausübung eines öffentlichen Amtes oder Schwangerschaft, richtet sich im Allgemeinen nach Art. 324a des Normalarbeitsvertrags für Hausangestellte des Kantons Zürich.
Die Pflicht zum Abschluss einer Krankentaggeldversicherung gemäss [Bezeichnung des Artikels des betreffenden Normalarbeitsvertrags] Normalarbeitsvertrag (NAV) wird ausgeschlossen.
Die (zwingenden) Bestimmungen des OR zum Lohnfortzahlungsanspruch des Arbeitnehmenden bei unverschuldeter Verhinderung aus Gründen, die in seiner Person liegen, definieren den Lohnfortzahlungsanspruch nicht für jedes Dienstjahr konkret. Die Dauer wird jedoch in den kantonalen NAV für Hausangestellte konkretisiert. Klarheit kann daher durch einen Verweis auf den kantonalen NAV für Hausangestellte geschaffen werden. Ein solcher Verweis ist auch möglich, wenn der NAV aufgrund seines Geltungsbereichs im Prinzip auf ein bestimmtes Arbeitsverhältnis nicht anwendbar wäre.
Gewisse Normalarbeitsverträge sehen eine Pflicht zum Abschluss einer Krankentaggeldversicherung vor. Eine derartige Pflicht kann schriftlich ausgeschlossen werden. Ziff. 6 enthält diesbezüglich eine mögliche Formulierung.
Hourly contracts are similiar to consulting afaik. So the cleaning lady would need to have a Krankentaggeldversicherung that covers for the inability to work during sickness.
We use the service from batmaid.ch