If an employee earns more than a certain sum a year, you must insure her with a pension fund. This limit is called the BVG entry threshold. Anyone below it is not compulsorily insured; anyone above it needs affiliation to a pension fund, and only part of the salary, the coordinated salary, is insured. The amounts change with AHV pensions, most recently on 1 January 2025 and next on 1 January 2027. This guide explains the rules of the Federal Act on Occupational Retirement, Survivors’ and Invalidity Pension Provision (BVG) for compulsory insurance and uses examples to show how you check the obligation for each person.
Who is compulsorily insured
Two conditions must come together (Art. 2, para. 1 and Art. 7 BVG): the person has passed the age of 17 and receives from one employer an annual salary of more than the entry threshold. More precisely, insurance for the risks of death and invalidity begins on 1 January after the 17th year of age is completed, and for old age on 1 January after the 24th year of age is completed (Art. 7, para. 1 BVG).
The decisive salary corresponds to the AHV salary; the Federal Council may allow deviations (Art. 7, para. 2 BVG). If someone has been employed for less than a year, the annual salary is the salary the person would earn if employed for the whole year (Art. 2, para. 2 BVG). What counts is the salary from a single employer: anyone who works for several employers and whose individual salaries are below the threshold is not compulsorily insured, but can insure voluntarily if the total annual salary exceeds the threshold and the regulations provide for it (Art. 46, para. 1 BVG).
Pension funds may insure more than the law requires; the BVG lays down only minimum rules (Art. 6 BVG). Also check the regulations of your fund, therefore.
The limit amounts for 2026 and 2027
The Federal Council may adjust the limit amounts to increases in the minimum AHV old-age pension (Art. 9 BVG); it did so on 1 January 2025 and again on 1 January 2027. Art. 5 BVV 2 and the BVG give the following amounts:
| Amount | 2026 | from 1.1.2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Entry threshold (annual salary more than) | CHF 22’680 | CHF 23’040 |
| Coordination deduction (lower limit) | CHF 26’460 | CHF 26’880 |
| Upper limit of the coordinated salary | CHF 90’720 | CHF 92’160 |
| Minimum coordinated salary | CHF 3’780 | CHF 3’840 |
The values for 2026 have applied unchanged since 1 January 2025 (BVG, as at 1 January 2025, and BVV 2, as at 1 August 2026; the BVG version of these amounts is valid until 31 December 2026). The values for 2027 are in the BVG version as at 1 January 2027 published on Fedlex, which refers to the amendment of the BVV 2 of 2 October 2026 (AS 2026 547). The maximum coordinated salary is thus CHF 64’260 in 2026 (90’720 minus 26’460) and CHF 65’280 in 2027 (92’160 minus 26’880).
Exceptions to the insurance obligation
Under Art. 1j, para. 1 BVV 2, the following, among others, are not compulsorily insured:
- employees whose employer is not liable to pay contributions to the AHV;
- employees with a fixed-term employment contract of no more than three months;
- persons in secondary employment who are already compulsorily insured for a main gainful activity or are self-employed in their main occupation;
- persons who are at least 70 per cent invalid within the meaning of the IV.
The exception for fixed-term contracts lapses if the employment relationship is extended without interruption beyond three months: you are then insured from the time the extension was agreed. If several employments with the same employer follow one another and together last longer than three months, without any interruption exceeding three months, insurance begins with the fourth month of work; if it was already clear before the first start of work that it would last longer than three months, insurance applies from the start (Art. 1k BVV 2). Temporary staff count as staff of the temporary employment agency (Art. 2 BVV 2).
Coordinated salary and retirement credits
The part of the annual salary between the coordination deduction and the upper limit is insured, the coordinated salary (Art. 8, para. 1 BVG). If it is below the minimum amount, it is rounded up to that amount (Art. 8, para. 2 BVG). If the annual salary falls temporarily because of illness, accident, unemployment, parenthood, adoption or similar reasons, the previous coordinated salary remains valid for at least as long as the duty of continued payment of salary under Art. 324a CO would exist or a maternity, care or adoption leave or a leave of the other parent lasts; the insured person can, however, demand a reduction (Art. 8, para. 3 BVG). The fund may deviate from this definition of salary in its regulations, for example by determining the salary in advance from the last known annual salary (Art. 3 BVV 2).
The retirement assets grow through retirement credits as a percentage of the coordinated salary. The law gives the rates as 7 per cent for ages 25 to 34, 10 per cent for 35 to 44, 15 per cent for 45 to 54 and 18 per cent from 55 (Art. 16 BVG). The contributions that you and the employees pay also include risk premiums and costs and are therefore not the same as the credit.
Start, end and employer duties
Insurance begins when the employment relationship starts (Art. 10, para. 1 BVG; on joining as a whole, see the onboarding checklist). It ends when the reference age is reached, the employment relationship is terminated, the salary falls below the minimum or the entitlement to ALV daily allowances ends; for death and invalidity, protection continues for one more month (Art. 10, paras. 2 and 3 BVG).
Anyone who employs staff who are to be compulsorily insured must set up a pension fund entered in the register or affiliate to one. Affiliation takes effect retroactively (Art. 11, paras. 1 and 3 BVG). If it is missing, the substitute occupational benefit institution (Auffangeinrichtung) pays the statutory benefits, and the employer owes it the contributions plus default interest and a surcharge as damages (Art. 12 BVG). On contributions: the employer bears at least as much as all its employees together. It owes the fund the total contributions, deducts the employee share from salary and transfers it by the end of the first month after the calendar or insurance year at the latest (Art. 66 BVG).
Practical example: Bäckerei Zeller AG
The Bäckerei Zeller AG is a fictitious business. All persons are employed by one employer, and the fund follows the statutory amounts for 2026. The retirement credit is the statutory rate applied to the coordinated salary.
| Person | Annual salary | Insured? | Coordinated salary | Retirement credit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lena Gerber, temporary assistant, 29 years | 19’200 (12 × 1’600) | no, below CHF 22’680 | – | – |
| Karin Wyss, 50%, 29 years | 24’000 (12 × 2’000) | yes | 3’780 (24’000 − 26’460 is negative, hence the minimum amount) | 7% = 264.60 |
| Peter Huber, 41 years | 52’000 (13 × 4’000) | yes | 25’540 (52’000 − 26’460) | 10% = 2’554.00 |
| Anna Keller, 52 years | 120’000 | yes | 64’260 (90’720 − 26’460) | 15% = 9’639.00 |
| Holiday temp, 2 months fixed-term | 28’800 extrapolated (12 × 2’400) | no, fixed-term of no more than three months | – | – |
If the bakery extends the holiday temp’s contract in writing to five months, the person is insured from the day of the agreement (Art. 1k BVV 2).
For 2027, with the same salaries, the following changes: Karin Wyss remains above the new threshold of CHF 23’040 with 24’000, and her coordinated salary is the minimum amount of CHF 3’840. Peter Huber comes to 25’120 (52’000 − 26’880), Anna Keller to 65’280 (92’160 − 26’880). A person with an annual salary of CHF 23’000 would be insured in 2026 but would be below the threshold in 2027. The law names falling below the minimum salary as a ground for insurance to end (Art. 10, para. 2 lit. c BVG); how your fund deals with such cases you clarify with it.
Checklist
- For each person, annual salary with your own business (AHV salary) compared with the threshold, extrapolated for a part-year joiner
- Age checked: start for death and invalidity in the year of the 18th birthday, for old age from 25
- Exceptions under Art. 1j BVV 2 checked: fixed-term, secondary employment, IV pension, employer not liable to AHV
- For fixed-term contracts, extensions and follow-on contracts monitored (Art. 1k BVV 2)
- Enrolment notification to the pension fund sent in good time
- Fund regulations checked for deviating thresholds and salary definitions
- Employee share deducted from salary, contributions transferred on time
- Limit amounts in payroll accounting updated on 1 January (new for 2027)
How KMU | base helps
HR | base supports you with the enrolment notification and calculates the coordinated salary in payroll. You yourself assess whether an exception to the insurance obligation applies.
1. Policies and plans. Under Payroll › Payroll › Settings, you enter the BVG plans with rates and validity under the insurance policies: entry threshold, type of coordination deduction (per BVG, by workload, none or fixed amount), maximum insured salary, risk contributions and savings contributions by age band. The statutory limit amounts are stored for 2025 to 2027, including the values from 1 January 2027.
2. Person. In the payroll master data (Payroll › Payroll › People) you choose the BVG plan, tick the “Subject to BVG” checkbox and, if needed, enter the BVG annual salary; if the field stays empty, the software calculates from monthly salary and number of salaries. The payroll run calculates the coordinated salary per plan with entry threshold and age limits. If the annual salary is below the threshold or the person is not subject to BVG, the payslip shows the note “Below the BVG entry threshold” or “Not subject to BVG”.
3. Enrolment notification. The joining checklist contains the item “Register with the pension fund (BVG)”. At that item you open the BVG enrolment notification, filled in from the contract or file with a suggestion for the annual salary, and send it by email to the pension fund. You store the pension fund’s email address in the settings.
What you need to know:
- HR | base does not recognise the exceptions under Art. 1j BVV 2 (for example fixed-term up to three months, secondary employment, IV pension) itself; you set “Subject to BVG” by hand.
- For monthly salary, the suggestion for the annual salary in the enrolment notification usually assumes 13 monthly salaries. If your employees have twelve salaries, correct the value; the notification shows the factor used.
- The enrolment notification is a fillable document sent by email; HR | base does not currently offer BVG enrolment and leaving notifications by electronic means.
- You check several employers (Art. 46 BVG) and the vested-rights rule for a temporary fall in salary (Art. 8, para. 3 BVG) with your fund; for deviating values you can enter the BVG annual salary manually.
If you would like to try it yourself, take a look at the Demo or open a test account. The guide to creating an employment contract helps with the start of the employment relationship, the guide to probation in the employment contract with probation. If you have questions, we will help you via the Contact page.
Sources
- Federal Act on Occupational Retirement, Survivors’ and Invalidity Pension Provision (BVG, SR 831.40), Art. 2, 6–12, 16, 46 and 66, as at 1 January 2025 (valid until 31 December 2026): fedlex.admin.ch (German original), accessed on 27.10.2026.
- BVG (SR 831.40), Art. 2, para. 1, Art. 7, para. 1 and Art. 8, paras. 1 and 2 in the version as at 1 January 2027 (amounts per the BVV 2 in the version of the amendment of 2 October 2026, AS 2026 547): fedlex.admin.ch (German original), accessed on 27.10.2026.
- Ordinance on Occupational Retirement, Survivors’ and Invalidity Pension Provision (BVV 2, SR 831.441.1), Art. 1j, 1k, 2, 3, 3a and 5, as at 1 August 2026: fedlex.admin.ch (German original), accessed on 27.10.2026. According to the footnotes of the BVG versions, the limit amounts change only on 1 January 2027.
This guide does not replace legal or tax advice. Information as at 27.10.2026.