Paid internship in Switzerland: employment contract and internship agreement (2026)
9 min read | Updated July 13, 2026
Author: Brice DELHOME
9 min read | Updated July 13, 2026
Author: Brice DELHOME
Landing a paid internship in Geneva, Lausanne, Zurich or Basel is excellent news, but everything hinges on the moment you sign. In Switzerland, an internship is not an informal status: it is a legal commitment governed by the Swiss Code of Obligations, often paired with a tripartite agreement with your school.
Understanding the difference between the internship agreement and the employment contract, knowing which clauses to check and planning ahead for the payment of your salary in Swiss francs (CHF) will save you many unpleasant surprises. Here is the complete guide to the contractual framework of your internship in Switzerland.
Yes, in the vast majority of cases. Under Swiss law, as soon as an internship involves productive work provided in return for remuneration, it is legally classified as an individual employment contract within the meaning of Articles 319 et seq. of the Swiss Code of Obligations (CO). The word "internship" therefore carries no derogatory effect: what matters is the reality of the relationship.
This classification has very concrete consequences for you. As an intern-employee, you enjoy the same basic protections as an ordinary employee:
The only exception: a purely educational observation placement, with no value creation or remuneration (for example a few days' immersion), escapes classification as an employment contract. From the moment the company pays you an allowance and entrusts you with useful tasks, you are covered by the CO.
These two documents are often confused, but they have neither the same function nor the same signatories. An internship embedded in a university curriculum generally makes the two coexist.
The internship agreement is signed by three parties: the student, the host company and the educational institution (university, university of applied sciences, HES). Its role is to link the internship to your studies: it describes the educational objectives, the validation of any ECTS credits, the role of the academic tutor and the duration. It is frequently required by Swiss institutions (EPFL, ETH Zurich, UNIL, HEC Lausanne) as well as by foreign universities sending their students to Switzerland.
The internship contract — legally an employment contract — binds only two parties: the company and you. It is what creates the employment relationship, setting the salary, the working hours, the probation period and social insurance. It is the decisive document for your rights and your remuneration.
| Criterion | Internship agreement | Internship contract (employment contract) |
|---|---|---|
| Signatories | Student + company + school (tripartite) | Company + intern (bipartite) |
| Purpose | Educational framework and academic validation | Employment relationship and remuneration |
| Legal basis | Institution's regulations | Art. 319 et seq. of the Swiss Code of Obligations |
| Mandatory for a paid internship? | Depends on the school / curriculum | Yes, always |
In Switzerland, an employment contract can in theory be verbal, but a written contract is the absolute norm for an internship and your best protection. Before you sign, check that the document clearly sets out the following elements in black and white.
Pay particular attention to whether the salary is stated as gross or net. An intern without a C permit is subject to source tax, deducted directly from the payslip. On an advertised allowance of CHF 3,000 gross, the amount actually transferred may therefore be noticeably lower depending on the cantonal scale. To decode every line of your payslip, rely on our guide on understanding your Swiss payslip.
Because a paid internship is an employment contract, it follows the CO's rules on ending the relationship. Two main scenarios arise.
Most internship contracts provide for a probation period, generally of one month. During this period, either party may terminate the contract subject to seven days' notice. It is a window of flexibility that works both ways: it protects you as much as it protects the company.
An internship is most often concluded for a fixed term (for example six months). A fixed-term contract ends automatically on the agreed date, without either party having to give notice. In principle, therefore, there is no termination to serve for a fixed-term contract that has reached its end.
However, if the contract expressly provides for an early-termination clause, the statutory notice periods apply (for example seven days during the probation period, then one month for the first year of service). In the absence of such a clause, ending a fixed-term contract before its term is more delicate and may engage the liability of the party that breaks it.
Your contract sets a remuneration in Swiss francs, but you still need to be able to collect it efficiently, especially if you live in the eurozone during or after your internship. This is an often underestimated step that can eat into a real portion of your allowance.
To pay the salary set in the contract, the Human Resources department will systematically require the details of an account with a Swiss IBAN (starting with the letters CH). Transfers to a foreign account (a French IBAN in FR, for example) are ruled out because of international fees and processing times.
This is precisely where many interns lose money. Converting your Swiss francs (CHF) into euros (EUR) through a traditional bank involves an exchange margin generally between 1.5% and 2%. On a salary of CHF 3,000, a 2% margin represents CHF 60 lost on every transfer, i.e. CHF 360 over a six-month internship — the equivalent of a month's groceries.
This setup lets you keep the full value stated in your contract. To dig deeper into the mechanics of transfers, see our guide on transferring your Swiss salary abroad and the tool how to calculate the true cost of a transfer. The ibani exchange and payment services are designed for international individuals living between Switzerland and the eurozone.
Yes, in the vast majority of cases. As soon as an internship involves productive activity in return for remuneration, it is considered an individual employment contract within the meaning of Articles 319 et seq. of the Swiss Code of Obligations (CO). The intern then benefits from statutory protections: agreed salary, working hours, notice periods and a certificate of employment. Only a purely educational observation placement, with no production or remuneration, escapes this classification.
The internship agreement is a tripartite document signed by the student, the host company and the educational institution; it frames the educational objective of an internship embedded in a curriculum. The internship contract (or employment contract) binds only the company and the intern and sets the conditions of the paid employment. In Switzerland, a paid internship requires a written employment contract; the tripartite agreement is added when the internship validates academic credits.
A written internship contract must specify the identity of the parties, the role and objectives of the internship, the start date and duration, the employment rate and working hours, the gross monthly remuneration in CHF, the length of the probation period, the notice periods, the right to holidays and affiliation to social insurance. The company's canton and a reference to the Swiss Code of Obligations usefully complete the document.
Yes. Like any fixed-term employment contract in Switzerland, an internship may provide for a probation period, generally of one month, during which the contract can be terminated subject to seven days' notice. Beyond that, for a fixed-term contract, the internship ends automatically on the agreed date, with no termination required, unless a clause to the contrary provides for early termination.
Swiss HR departments require an account with a Swiss IBAN (starting with CH) to pay the salary. A payment infrastructure such as ibani provides a CH IBAN with no opening fees to receive the pay, converts the francs into euros at a transparent rate, then sends the funds via the SEPA network to the account of residence, avoiding the 1.5% to 2% exchange margin of traditional banks.