Break Rules in Switzerland: How Much Break After How Many Hours?

In Switzerland, the Labour Act requires a break of at least 15 minutes when daily working time exceeds 5.5 hours, 30 minutes when it exceeds 7 hours and one hour when it exceeds 9 hours (Art. 15 para. 1 ArG). Working time is counted without breaks. The break falls roughly in the middle of the working day, and as a rule it is unpaid. If an employee is not allowed to leave the workplace during the break, it counts as working time (Art. 15 para. 2 ArG).

Below you will find how the scale works in everyday practice, where the break has to be placed, when it may be split, what applies to young workers, part-time and flexitime, and which breaks have to appear in the time records.

The break scale under Art. 15 ArG

The law has three thresholds. Each one applies to «more than», so anyone working exactly 7 hours only needs a quarter of an hour. The values are minimums, and longer breaks may be agreed at any time.

Daily working time without breaks	Minimum break	Example
up to 5.5 hours	none	part-time in the morning, 8 am to 12 noon
more than 5.5 up to 7 hours	15 minutes	6 hours of work, 15-minute break at 11 am
more than 7 up to 9 hours	30 minutes	8.5 hours of work, 7.30 am to 4.30 pm with a 30-minute lunch break
more than 9 hours	1 hour	9.5 hours of work, 7 am to 5.30 pm with a one-hour lunch break

Because working time is counted without breaks, the required break can be shorter than the table suggests at first glance. The SECO guidance on the Labour Act gives an example. Someone present from 6 am to 11.40 am only needs a 10-minute break, because exactly 5.5 hours of work remain, and only more than 5.5 hours triggers the quarter of an hour. By the same logic, 20 minutes are enough for presence from 6 am to 1.20 pm.

The easiest way to check whether the breaks in your company match the working time is our free overtime calculator. You enter start, end and break for each day, and the calculator shows where a break is too short, together with excess hours, rest period and daily time frame, each with the relevant article.

Where the break has to be placed and when it may be split

Breaks are meant for rest and meals. That is why Art. 18 para. 2 ArGV 1 requires them to be placed around the middle of the working time. According to SECO, a «break» at the beginning or end of the working day does not count as granted. Skipping the lunch break to go home earlier therefore does not meet the requirement, even if the employee wants it that way.

The rule on working blocks also matters. If a partial working period of more than 5.5 hours arises before or after a break, an additional break under Art. 15 ArG must be granted for it (Art. 18 para. 2 ArGV 1). The SECO guidance works this through for a lunch break from 12 noon to 1 pm. If work starts before 6.30 am, an additional quarter of an hour is needed in the morning. If it continues past 6.30 pm, the same applies to the afternoon. A long lunch break alone is not enough if the blocks before or after it become too long.

Only breaks of more than half an hour may be split (Art. 18 para. 3 ArGV 1). The quarter of an hour and the half hour have to be granted in one piece. The one-hour break for more than 9 hours of work, on the other hand, can be divided into half an hour and several short breaks. Breaks can be set uniformly for everyone or at different times for individuals and groups (Art. 18 para. 1 ArGV 1), for example when the break room cannot hold everyone at once.

Are breaks paid in Switzerland?

As a rule, no. Breaks do not count as working time and therefore do not have to be paid. There is one statutory exception. If the employee is not allowed to leave the workplace during the break, the break counts as working time (Art. 15 para. 2 ArG). The workplace is any place inside or outside the company where the employee has to be in order to carry out the assigned work (Art. 18 para. 5 ArGV 1). According to SECO, a vehicle counts as a workplace, not as a break room.

Typical cases are standby for faults in production or monitoring a plant where intervention may be needed at any time. According to SECO, a break at the workplace also only counts as granted if hygienic conditions there are acceptable. According to the SECO guidance, the fact that someone works alone does not justify keeping them at their post during the break. The employer then has to organise a replacement or, in retail for example, close the shop for the break.

Regardless of the law, the employment contract, staff regulations or a collective labour agreement may provide for paid breaks. Many companies pay the morning or afternoon snack break, for instance. This is a voluntary or contractual benefit and not a requirement of the Labour Act.

Smoking and coffee breaks

There is no statutory right to additional breaks for smoking, as ch.ch, the information portal of the Swiss Confederation and the cantons, also points out. The same applies to coffee breaks beyond the minimum breaks. The employer can issue break rules and specify, for example, when and where breaks take place. According to the SECO guidance, the employer consults the employees or their representatives before finalising it. We recommend putting the rule in writing and sharing it with everyone, so nobody has to guess what applies.

Technical interruptions, such as a machine standing still for a short time, do not count as breaks. According to the SECO guidance, a break is only an interruption that can be used for meals and rest. Short waiting times whose end nobody can predict do not meet this.

Part-time and flexitime

The scale depends on the actual daily working time, not on the workload percentage. Someone working part-time for 5 hours a day has no statutory right to a break. If the same person works 7.5 hours on a given day, the half hour applies for that day.

With flexible working hours such as flexitime, the average daily working time is decisive for measuring breaks (Art. 18 para. 4 ArGV 1). The SECO guidance specifies that the main break is based on the average daily target working time and that here, too, every working block of more than 5.5 hours requires an additional quarter of an hour.

Breaks for young workers

Under Art. 29 para. 1 ArG, young workers are employees up to the age of 18. The scale of Art. 15 ArG applies to their breaks, because the Youth Employment Protection Ordinance (ArGV 5) refers back to the Labour Act wherever it does not provide otherwise (Art. 2 ArGV 5). The limits around the breaks are stricter. Young workers may work no more than 9 hours a day and no longer than the other employees in the company (Art. 31 para. 1 ArG). Daily work including breaks must fall within 12 hours (Art. 31 para. 2 ArG), and the daily rest period is at least 12 hours (Art. 16 ArGV 5).

A separate break rule applies to school-age young people from 13 years for up to half the duration of the school holidays or during a career orientation placement. They may work no more than 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week, in each case between 6 am and 6 pm, and receive a break of at least half an hour when working more than 5 hours (Art. 11 let. b ArGV 5).

Which breaks have to be recorded

Under Art. 73 para. 1 let. e ArGV 1, the timing and duration of breaks of half an hour or more must be included in the time records. Shorter breaks do not have to be recorded with start and end, but the daily working time must still be correct. What else has to be recorded and which simplifications exist is explained in our article on time tracking in Switzerland.

According to the SECO guidance on Art. 15 ArG, breaks have to be planned and communicated to employees under Art. 69 ArGV 1, which as a rule means two weeks in advance. During an inspection by the labour inspectorate, the recorded breaks show whether they match the length of the working day and whether they fall in the middle.

Special rules, for example in hospitality

For certain groups of companies and employees, the Federal Council may deviate from the rules on working and rest time and issue special provisions (Art. 27 ArG). These are set out in Ordinance 2 to the Labour Act (ArGV 2) and cover, among others, hospitality businesses, hospitals and care homes. In hospitality, the generally binding national collective labour agreement (L-GAV) also applies. Anyone working in such a sector should check the relevant special provisions and the collective agreement, because more than the general scale may apply there.

Frequently asked questions about break rules

After how many hours am I entitled to a break in Switzerland?

From a daily working time of more than 5.5 hours. A break of at least 15 minutes is then required, 30 minutes for more than 7 hours and one hour for more than 9 hours (Art. 15 para. 1 ArG). Working time is counted without breaks.

May I work 7 hours without a break?

No. For more than 5.5 hours of work, a break of at least 15 minutes is required, and it must fall roughly in the middle of the working time (Art. 18 para. 2 ArGV 1). Skipping the break to finish work earlier is not permitted.

How much break do I need for 12 hours of work?

At least one hour under Art. 15 ArG. Because no working block of more than 5.5 hours may arise before or after a break (Art. 18 para. 2 ArGV 1), two blocks of 6 hours each additionally require a quarter of an hour each. In addition, work and breaks during day and evening work must fall within 14 hours (Art. 10 para. 3 ArG).

Are breaks paid?

Usually not. Under the Labour Act, a break only has to be paid if it counts as working time because the workplace may not be left (Art. 15 para. 2 ArG). Employment contracts or collective agreements may provide for further paid breaks.

May the lunch break be split?

Only breaks of more than half an hour (Art. 18 para. 3 ArGV 1). A one-hour break can therefore be divided, a half-hour break cannot. Each part must serve for rest, and a «break» at the beginning or end of the working day does not count.

Do the break rules also apply to part-time work?

Yes, based on the actual working time of each individual day. Anyone working no more than 5.5 hours on a given day has no statutory right to a break. On longer days, the same scale applies as for full-time work.

Keeping to breaks reliably in everyday work

The break scale is quickly explained, yet in everyday work it is easily overlooked. A working day lasts longer than planned, the lunch break shifts, and at the end of the month nobody can see whether a working block was too long. With paper or Excel this hardly stands out.

With the overtime calculator you check a single week. For ongoing operations there is CrewDeck by Digital Airways. Time tracking records arrival, departure and breaks in the browser or at a terminal, and CrewDeck checks the times against the Labour Act. If the quarter of an hour, the half hour or the full hour is missing, or a working block runs for more than 5.5 hours without a break, a warning appears with the relevant article. You export the time records under Art. 73 ArGV 1 as CSV or PDF. Responsibility for compliance remains with the employer.

Would you like to see what this would look like in your company? In a CrewDeck demo we show you recording, the break check and the time records in 30 minutes, based on your own working time models.

This article provides an overview of the legal situation and does not replace legal advice. It is based on the Labour Act, ArGV 1 and ArGV 5 as published on fedlex.admin.ch and the SECO guidance on Art. 15 ArG, Art. 18 ArGV 1 and Art. 11 ArGV 5, as of October 2026. For your individual case, please contact an employment law specialist or the labour inspectorate of your canton.