70’000

people work undeclared in the domestic industry in Switzerland

80%

of Swiss cleaning staff work undeclared.

320 mios

are lost to AVS annually due to undeclared work.

6% of GDP

Undeclared workers contribute more than 6% to the Swiss GDP

75’000

people work undeclared in the domestic industry in Switzerland

80%

of Swiss cleaning staff work undeclared.

320 mios

are lost to AVS annually due to undeclared work.

6% of GDP

Undeclared workers contribute more than 6% to the Swiss GDP

Undeclared work: a heavy blow to the economy and social cohesion

Impact on Employees

"Not being registered means being invisible to society"

Unregistered workers have little or no access to social benefits and don't even have the guarantee of getting paid. If employers continue to hire off the books, incomes for all workers in the sector will remain low.

Impact on Employers

"Not registering an employee can have very severe consequences"

Faulty employers face fines, insurance issues in the event of accidents, loss of legal protections, and tax repayments.

Impact on Society

"Under-the-table work takes millions of francs from the community every year"

Just in the home cleaning sector, lost AHV contributions due to undeclared work are estimated at 320 million CHF per year.

How to pull the domestic industry out of the black market?

Some solutions have already been implemented, with little success:

1. The simplified declaration procedure

This procedure, established in 2005, aims to make the declaration of domestic employees easier. Although necessary, this measure hasn't had the anticipated effects, and undeclared work remains the norm.

2. Controls

This measure has had virtually no effect in the domestic industry, as controls are mainly based on delation. Implementing effective and deterrent inspections is a crucial step to establish the dignity of undeclared worker.

Facing the inefficiency of the current measures, we propose 3 incentive measures:

Tax deduction

Cost of cleaning hours performed by declared third parties, up to max 5000 CHF, are tax deductible.

Households hesitate to declare their cleaning staff due to additional costs linked to social contributions and insurances, making the simplified declaration unattractive.

Solution

A capped tax deduction would be granted exclusively to households employing declared cleaning staff, whether directly or through a specialized company.

Cantonal jurisdiction

Tax exemption

Tax exemption for registered cleaning staff up to a specified limit & granting of tax amnesty.

The net income of declared cleaning personnel is often lower despite a gross increase. Given the deductions and taxes, many prefer to work under the table, despite the risks, to maintain higher earnings.

Solution

Tax exemptions, capped at a certain limit, should be available exclusively for declared cleaning staff, whether directly employed or via a specialized firm, mirroring the approach for volunteer firefighters and military or civil service workers. If regularization occurs spontaneously, a one-year tax amnesty should be granted without addressing past undue earnings. After this year, standard penalties would apply.

Cantonal jurisdiction

Reduction of the Double VAT Burden

Elimination or reduction of VAT.

Private individuals currently pay VAT for home cleaning, as does Batmaid on its revenues. This double taxation discourages demand for declared services.

Solution

The reduction or elimination of VAT for home cleaning services.

Federal jurisdiction

"Let's make good practices attractive"

Batmaid focuses here on its main domain, home cleaning. However, our observations and proposals could also apply to other domestic services affected by undeclared work, such as nannies, homework helpers, home chefs, etc.

The European Example

France

To encourage declared work, France introduced a tax credit for home services. In practice, the State covers half of the cleaning costs, if the taxpayer is eligible for this measure.

GERMANY

Tax deductions up to 20% implemented by the German government have led to a 5% decrease in undeclared domestic work.

SWEDEN

Since December 8, 2008, Swedish citizens can request a tax deduction amounting to 50% of labor costs for domestic work.

And where does Batmaid come in?

From its beginnings as a startup with only 4 employees, Batmaid has committed to offering declared and insured jobs to cleaning agents.

2015

Launch of Batmaid.

Agents are legally employed by clients. Batmaid handles job declaration on behalf of its clients. From this early business model arises the mistaken idea that Batmaid is the Uber of cleaning. While the option to order a service online is similar, Batmaid has never relied on a workforce made up of independents.

2020

COVID-19 strikes.

Clients cancel their cleaning services, and agents lose their income. To guarantee them income, Batmaid decides to become the legal employer of cleaning agents.

2022

Hourly wage increase of 6.8%

Batmaid announces an average hourly wage increase of 6.8% for its cleaning agents (taking a year's advance on the salary increase planned by the CCT, due to the inflation crisis).

We have helped over

7'500

cleaning agents leave the black market since April 2015.

We help agents understanding the Swiss social insurance system by answering more than

4000

requests for administrative assistance every month (AVS, family allowances, taxes, etc.)

Batmaid is proudly

Swiss and committed

to valuing the local workforce

We have helped over

7'500

cleaning agents leave the black market since April 2015.

We help agents understanding the Swiss social insurance system by answering more than

4000

requests for administrative assistance every month (AVS, family allowances, taxes, etc.)

Batmaid is proudly

Swiss and committed

to valuing the local workforce

Together, let's fight against undeclared work in the domestic industry

a good cleaning is a declared one

Together, let's fight against undeclared work in the home cleaning industry

Undeclared work: a heavy blow to the economy and social cohesion

Impact on Employees

"Not being registered means being invisible to society"

Impact on Employers

"Not registering an employee can have very severe consequences"

Impact on Society

"Under-the-table work takes millions of francs from the community every year"

Hiring a declared cleaning agent is key to fight the black market

How to pull the domestic industry out of the black market?

1. The simplified declaration procedure

2. Controls

Facing the inefficiency of the current measures, we propose 3 incentive measures:

Tax deduction

Cost of cleaning hours performed by declared third parties, up to max 5000 CHF, are tax deductible.

Solution

Cantonal jurisdiction

Tax exemption

Tax exemption for registered cleaning staff up to a specified limit & granting of tax amnesty.

Solution

Cantonal jurisdiction

Reduction of the Double VAT Burden

Elimination or reduction of VAT.

Solution

Federal jurisdiction

"Let's make good practices attractive"

France

GERMANY

SWEDEN

And where does Batmaid come in?

From its beginnings as a startup with only 4 employees, Batmaid has committed to offering declared and insured jobs to cleaning agents.

Launch of Batmaid.

COVID-19 strikes.

Hourly wage increase of 6.8%

Together, let's fight against undeclared work in the domestic industry

Learn more about undeclared work through our social media channels.