Zurich Sets a CHF 23.90 (About $28.64) Hourly Minimum Wage for 2027, a Raise for About 17,000 Workers

Employees who work mostly inside the city of Zurich, apart from a short list of exemptions, will be owed at least CHF 23.90 (about $28.64) an hour gross under an ordinance that takes effect on January 1, 2027. The Zurich city council announced the start date on Thursday, and the Zurich city government estimated in 2023 that around 17,000 people stand to benefit. Employers get a transition period until December 31, 2027 to adjust their pay, so the legal start and the day the money must reach every pay slip are not the same. For Metaintro readers who clean offices, wait tables or work a shop till in Zurich, or who are weighing a move there, the details below cover what the rate is worth, who is left out, and when checks begin.

What Did Zurich Decide This Week?

The city council decided to put the municipal minimum wage ordinance into force on January 1, 2027. The detailed implementing rules are planned for the second quarter of 2027 at the latest, and employers' and workers' organisations will be involved in drafting them.

The council has removed the suspensive effect of any appeals against the introduction, so that appeals are meant to cause no further delay.

After the federal court ruling, it was important to the council to put the minimum wage into force as quickly as possible, said Céline Widmer, head of the city's social services department.

The appeal has already delayed the implementation of the popular vote by several years, a very long time for employees with the lowest wages (translated), Céline Widmer, head of the social services department, said, according to the 20 Minuten report.

How Much Is CHF 23.90 an Hour Worth Over a Month?

The rate is a gross hourly figure. In 2023 the plan was described as ensuring a monthly salary of at least 4,000 francs (about $4,794) in Zurich.

Three rules on the city's own page decide what lands in your account:

• Holiday and public holiday pay are not included in the minimum wage. If you are paid by the hour, your employer has to add a corresponding supplement on top, following the legal rules.
• If an employer voluntarily pays a 13th monthly salary, that supplement may be counted into the hourly wage to reach the minimum.
• The amount is reviewed every year and adjusted to the national consumer price index and the nominal wage index, so the figure is not frozen.

Who Is Covered, and Who Is Left Out?

The rule covers all employees who carry out their work mostly within the city of Zurich. That is the city, not the wider canton, and it applies to staff who are technically employed elsewhere but who mainly work within city limits.

The ordinance provides these exemptions:

• Internships with a training character, maximum 12 months
• Apprentices in recognised training companies
• Family members working in family businesses
• Programmes for vocational and social integration
• Employees younger than 25 who cannot show at least a vocational qualification at the level of the Federal Vocational Certificate (EBA)

The council can also exempt further groups of employees, taking the purpose of the minimum wage into account. That under-25 exemption no longer applies once you hold at least the EBA certificate.

When Do Employers Actually Have to Pay It?

Two dates matter here. The ordinance is law from January 1, 2027, but employers receive a transition period until December 31, 2027 to implement the minimum wage requirements. The grace period is meant to give affected employers enough time for the necessary adjustments.

A second, longer delay is possible for some firms. Businesses in demonstrable financial difficulty can, on a reasoned application, be granted a transition period of two years during which they do not yet have to meet the minimum wage. That two-year clock starts when the implementing provisions are issued, not on January 1. With the rules planned for the second quarter, that comes to two years from the second quarter of 2027.

Put together, the timeline from the city's own page reads like this:

• January 1, 2027, the ordinance takes effect.
• By the second quarter of 2027 at the latest, the detailed implementing rules are planned.
• December 31, 2027, the general grace period for employers ends.
• Two years after the implementing rules are issued, the hardship extension for qualifying firms runs out.

The one-year grace period applies to every employer, while the two-year extension is only for firms in proven financial trouble.

Why Does the Union Federation Say the Real Start Is 2028?

The trade union federation of the canton of Zurich welcomed the fixed date but criticised that checks will only take place from 2028.

For us it is clear that in reality the minimum wages will only be paid out once the checks begin (translated), Serge Gnos, president of the cantonal trade union federation, said in a statement, according to the watson report.

The federation's president put the number still waiting at 17,000 low-wage employees. The Greens also welcomed the introduction, calling for effective checks on compliance and warning that exemptions for young workers and internships could hollow out protection against the lowest wages.

Back in 2023 the plan was for city authorities to check businesses regularly, with companies found breaking the rules subject to fines.

Which Workers Benefit From the New Floor?

The people who mainly benefit work in low-wage sectors such as cleaning, hospitality and retail, and most of them are women.

At a June 30 union press conference, Vania Alleva, vice-president of the Swiss Trade Union Federation, put monthly figures on it. The Zurich minimum means about 300 francs (about $360) more per month for an unskilled service worker, and 120 francs (about $144) more for a cleaner or a saleswoman in a bakery. Two thirds of the people who benefit from minimum wages are women, she added.

The 2023 plan applied the floor to people on collective bargaining (GAV) and regular work contracts.

How Did a 2023 Vote Turn Into a 2027 Pay Rule?

On June 18, 2023, voters accepted the counter-proposal to the popular initiative A Wage to Live On with around 70 percent voting yes. The administrative court of the canton of Zurich stopped the minimum wage on the grounds that cities and municipalities were not allowed to introduce minimum wages, as that was solely a matter for the canton.

The Swiss Federal Supreme Court reversed that in judgments dated May 12, 2026, which were made public on June 10. The court found that the municipal ordinances are compatible with cantonal law and that the lower court's decisions violate municipal autonomy. It also left it to the city councils of Zurich and Winterthur to put the ordinances into force, which is the step Zurich has now taken.

The ruling reaches beyond one city because the Zurich case is a leading decision, so all cities and municipalities in the canton of Zurich may introduce minimum wages if they want to. The court found it can be assumed that the two cities, through familiarity with local conditions and closeness to those affected, can fight in-work poverty as effectively as the canton.

How Does Zurich Compare With Geneva, Lucerne and Winterthur?

Switzerland has no national minimum wage, and voters decided against introducing one back in 2014. At canton level, Ticino, Geneva, Neuchâtel, Jura and Basel-Stadt have introduced minimum wages, while voters in the canton of Fribourg had rejected a minimum wage of 23 francs an hour (about $27.57), SRF reported in June.

Here is how Zurich sits against other Swiss floors, each converted at this week's rate:

• Geneva: the minimum gross hourly wage rises to 24.73 francs from January 1, 2027 (about $29.64), up from 24.59 francs in 2026 (about $29.47), and above the Zurich floor.
• Lucerne city: a minimum wage of 22.75 francs an hour (about $27.27) still applies after voters rejected repealing it, with 67.6 percent voting no in a city vote this September. Lucerne became the first to implement a local minimum wage at the beginning of 2026.
• Winterthur: it may introduce a minimum wage of 23 francs an hour (about $27.57), but its start date is still open, and the city plans to put the ordinance into force in the coming months.

In Lucerne, an estimated 3,000 employees in low-wage sectors benefit from the rule. The FDP, Mitte, SVP and GLP parties and business associations there criticise the minimum wage as a municipal special path that adds hurdles for companies because it only applies within city limits. Outside the canton of Zurich, efforts are under way in Bern, Biel and Schaffhausen.

Could a National Law Still Change Zurich's Minimum Wage?

As passed by the Council of States in March, the federal bill that became the amendment of June 19, 2026 meant that minimum wages negotiated in generally binding collective agreements can override cantonal minimum wages. A generally binding agreement is one that applies to a whole sector or profession, even when employees are not members of the association that signed it. Under that version, a municipality or canton could not enforce a higher minimum wage than the one set in the binding agreement. The Council of States added a compromise so that in Geneva and Neuchâtel, binding-agreement minimums only take effect once they exceed the cantonal minimum wage already set. Basel-Stadt, Ticino and Jura also have minimum wages, but they have already set that generally binding agreements take precedence.

The Federal Social Insurance Office confirmed on October 23 that the referendum against the amendment of June 19, 2026 has come about after the Federal Chancellery checked the submitted signatures. A separate cantons' referendum, backed only by Neuchâtel and Ticino, did not reach the required minimum of eight cantons.

Alleva argued that if the change stands, in cantons and cities where a minimum wage was decided but has yet to be introduced, tens of thousands would never benefit from it. The referendum committee submitted 66,574 signatures against the amendment on October 7, 2026, and the Federal Chancellery found 66,006 of them valid.

What This Means for Low-Wage Workers in Zurich, and What Should You Do Next?

The practical reading is simple. If you work mostly inside Zurich city limits, are 25 or older or hold at least an EBA certificate, and earn under CHF 23.90 (about $28.64) an hour gross before holiday pay, and no other exemption on the city's list applies, your employer must lift you to the floor by the end of the grace period, unless your employer is granted the two-year hardship extension. The ordinance takes effect on January 1, 2027, but the date your pay must rise at employers without a hardship extension is the end of 2027, and the union federation criticises that checks will only take place from 2028.

Use the grace period to check your pay:

• Work out your real hourly rate. Divide your gross monthly pay by your contracted hours, and check whether holiday pay is added on top or wrongly folded in.
• Check the exemptions. If you are under 25 without at least an EBA qualification, gaining that certificate changes your status, so it is worth asking whether your employer supports one.
• Weigh offers on the full package. A voluntary 13th monthly salary can count toward the floor, so compare annual pay, not just the hourly line.

From January 1, 2027, roles inside the city carry a legal floor that a nearby town without its own rule does not have. For context on how other countries are moving their floors, France has brought its own minimum wage rise forward, and the UK has set its next minimum wage increase. Swiss workers in other sectors face different changes, such as the Just Eat courier job cuts in Switzerland.

Lacey Kaelani, Metaintro's CEO, puts it this way: A new minimum wage only counts once it shows up on your pay slip. Know your hourly rate, ask your employer when the raise starts, and treat the floor as your starting point in any pay talk, never your ceiling.

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People Also Asked

Q: When does Zurich's minimum wage start?

A: The ordinance takes effect on January 1, 2027, and employers have a transition period until December 31, 2027 to put it in place.

Q: Does Zurich's minimum wage apply to the whole canton?

A: No. It covers employees who carry out their work mostly within the city of Zurich, though after the federal court ruling, all cities and municipalities in the canton may introduce their own.

Q: Is Zurich's minimum wage the highest in Switzerland?

A: No. Geneva's minimum gross hourly wage rises to 24.73 francs from January 1, 2027 (about $29.64), above Zurich's 23.90 francs an hour gross (about $28.64).

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