Posting of workers

What is a posting?

A posting occurs when an employer temporarily sends an employee to another country to work there for the employer. The employment relationship with the employer in the home country continues. For health insurance, a posting matters because it is an exception to the general rule: normally you are insured where you live or work. When you are posted, you remain in the system of your home country.

From Switzerland’s point of view, there are two directions. People posted abroad from Switzerland remain, under certain conditions, in Swiss basic health insurance under the Federal Health Insurance Act (KVG/LAMal), even if they live abroad. People posted to Switzerland generally remain in the system of their home country and do not have to take out insurance in Switzerland, or can be exempted on request.

Which rules apply depends on the destination country. With the EU, the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons applies; with Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein, the EFTA Convention; and with the United Kingdom, a separate agreement. Switzerland has bilateral social security agreements with other states. For all other states, only Swiss law applies.

A posting must be distinguished from cross-border commuters: they live abroad and work regularly in Switzerland without being posted.

How it works

Posting abroad from Switzerland

You remain in Swiss basic health insurance if two conditions are met: you were required to take out insurance in Switzerland immediately before the posting, and your employer is resident or based in Switzerland. The duration depends on the destination country:

In contracting states outside the EU, EFTA and the United Kingdom, you may still end up insured twice if the destination country has its own compulsory health insurance. In that case you can apply to the competent cantonal authority for an exemption from the Swiss requirement to take out insurance. The conditions: the Swiss insurance would be a double burden, and you have equivalent cover for treatment in Switzerland.

Posting to Switzerland

If you are posted to Switzerland from an EU or EFTA state and remain subject to the law of your home state, you are not required to take out insurance in Switzerland. For treatment in Switzerland, the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) or an equivalent certificate is usually used. If you are posted from another contracting state and exempt from paying AHV/IV contributions, you can apply to be exempted from the requirement to take out insurance. Your employer must then undertake to ensure that at least the benefits under the KVG are insured.

Legal basis

Art. 3 para. 3 let. b KVG allows the Federal Council to extend the requirement to take out insurance to people without residence in Switzerland who are employed abroad by an employer based in Switzerland. It has done so in Art. 4 KVV: posted workers and the family members accompanying them remain subject to compulsory insurance if they were required to take out insurance in Switzerland immediately before and work for an employer based in Switzerland (para. 1). For family members, the requirement lapses if they work abroad in a job subject to compulsory insurance (para. 2). The continued insurance lasts two years, on request up to six years in total (para. 3). If a social security agreement applies, the duration is governed by that agreement (para. 4).

For postings to Switzerland, Art. 2 para. 1 let. c KVV provides that people are not required to take out insurance if, because of their employment, they are subject to the law of another state under the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons, the EFTA Convention or a social security agreement. Art. 2 para. 5 KVV allows exemption on request for posted workers who are exempt from paying AHV/IV contributions. Art. 2 para. 2 KVV governs exemption in the case of a double burden. The maximum duration of 24 months for postings to the EU comes from the coordination rules in Annex II of the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons; the FOPH summarises them on its page on posted workers.

Example: three postings from Zurich

Three employees of a company based in Zurich are posted abroad from 1 January 2026. All three had Swiss basic health insurance until then.

The premium continues to be due during the posting. For comparison: an adult born in 1988 living in the municipality of Zurich (region 1) pays between CHF 517.70 and CHF 724.00 a month in 2026 for basic health insurance with accident cover and a CHF 300 deductible; the median is CHF 580.00 (premiums 2026, source FOPH). You can see your insurer’s premium in the premium calculator.

What this means for you

Clarify these points with your employer and your health insurer before you leave:

1. Posting certificate. For the EU, EFTA and the United Kingdom, you need the A1 from the AHV compensation office. Without it, the law of the country where you work applies.
2. Duration and extension. Note the end date. For states without an agreement, submit your application for an extension to your health insurer in good time.
3. Avoid double insurance. If the destination country requires its own insurance, look into an exemption in Switzerland with the cantonal authority.
4. Supplementary insurance. It continues according to the contract. Whether it pays abroad is stated in the GTC.
5. Family. Report accompanying family members to your insurer and clarify whether anyone will work abroad.

You will find the insurers’ contact details and offers under health insurers. Ask your insurer directly whether it looks after insured persons living abroad.

Common mistakes

• Cancelling your health insurance when you leave. If you are posted, you usually remain subject to compulsory insurance. Cancelling because you are moving abroad is then wrong.
• Leaving without an A1. Without the certificate, the country where you work can enforce its own requirement to take out insurance.
• Overlooking the two-year limit. In states without an agreement, the requirement to take out insurance ends after two years if no application is made.
• Confusing a posting with cross-border commuting. Cross-border commuters live abroad and work in Switzerland. Different rules and deadlines apply to them.

You will find more terms on living abroad and cross-border commuting in the glossary.