I work for a temp agency: when do I get paid?

In temporary work (the law calls it "staff leasing"), your employer is the agency, not the company running the site. So the agency pays your salary, makes the deductions and gives you your payslip.

Your contract with the agency must be in writing and state the salary payment dates (Employment Services Act, AVG/LSE, art. 19 para. 2 let. g). So look at your assignment contract first: the date is in it.

Three texts work together.

The collective labour agreement for staff leasing (GAV Personalverleih / CCT Location de services) is the collective agreement for agencies whose main activity is staff leasing (art. 2). The Federal Council has made it binding for the whole sector until 31 December 2027.

If you work on a main construction site (masonry, civil engineering, roads), the agency must also apply the LMV/CN rules on salary and working time (AVG/LSE, art. 20). The list of these rules is in the Employment Services Ordinance (AVV/OSE, art. 48a): minimum wage, supplements, holidays, 13th-month salary, public holidays. The payment date is not on this list. In practice, the staff leasing agreement sets the deadline: the 5th of the following month.

The law sets a minimum (once a month), not a maximum. An agency can pay every week, every two weeks or every month. What counts is what is written in your contract.

If you need money before payday, the CO provides for advances: "to the extent of work already performed, the employer grants the employee in need the advances that it can reasonably be expected to make" (art. 323 para. 4). An advance (often called "acompte") therefore covers hours you have already worked, not future hours. It is then deducted from the month's salary.

Fictional example. João, 35, a skilled construction worker (class A), works for an agency on a main construction site in Geneva. His agency pays monthly.

• He works from Thursday 1 to Saturday 31 October 2026: 22 working days, 176.00 h.
• His minimum hourly wage for 2026 in class A in Geneva is CHF 32.80 (LMV/CN, appendix 4). Base salary for October: 176.00 h × CHF 32.80 = CHF 5'772.80.
• His contract pays public holidays as a percentage: 3.17% in Geneva in 2026, or CHF 1.04 per hour (LMV/CN art. 34 para. 5, CPGO rate). This part is paid with each pay: 176.00 h × CHF 1.04 = CHF 183.04. Gross paid for October: CHF 5'955.84, before deductions (AHV, unemployment insurance, etc.).
• Holiday pay (10.6%, CHF 3.59 per hour, or CHF 631.84) is shown on the payslip, but paid when João takes his holidays (LMV/CN art. 31 para. 2). The 13th-month salary (8.3%, CHF 3.11 per hour, or CHF 547.36) is paid at the end of the year or with the last pay, or every month if João is subject to withholding tax and has agreed this in writing with the agency (LMV/CN art. 46). In total, João earned CHF 7'135.04 in October, but he does not receive all of it on 5 November.
• On 15 October, after 80.00 h of work, João has rent to pay. He asks for an advance. The agency only has to advance money for work already done: 80.00 h × (CHF 32.80 + CHF 1.04) = CHF 2'707.20 gross. It gives him CHF 1'500.00.
• Deadline for paying the balance: Thursday 5 November 2026. The October payslip shows the gross salary, the deductions, the CHF 1'500.00 advance deducted, the breakdown of hours, and the holiday pay and 13th-month salary set aside.

If João's contract ends on 20 October, the date does not change: the hours from 1 to 20 October are paid no later than 5 November. Untaken holidays and the 13th-month salary should then, in principle, come with this last pay (LMV/CN art. 31 para. 2 and 46 para. 3).

Some agencies show an "all-inclusive" hourly rate: the CPGO table for temporary work gives CHF 40.54 per hour in class A, holidays and 13th-month salary included. Our article on the 13th-month salary in temporary work explains the difference with the LMV/CN rule on holidays.

The CO simply says: "The employee is given a statement" (art. 323b para. 1). The collective agreements are more precise:

• the LMV/CN requires a detailed monthly statement with an exact record of the hours worked (art. 44);
• the staff leasing agreement requires the balance of holiday days to appear on the salary statements (art. 13 para. 2).

Keep all your payslips and time records. They are your proof if something is ever missing.

1. Check the date in your contract and your bank account. A transfer made on the 5th can arrive one day later, depending on the bank.
2. Chase the agency, first by phone, then in writing (email or letter). Keep a copy.
3. Send the agency a formal notice by registered letter: you ask for payment of the amount owed within a short deadline (for example 5 days). An employer who pays late also owes interest of 5% per year (CO, art. 104).
4. Ask for help. Construction trade unions help their members. You can also report the situation to the joint committee: on main construction sites, it is the LMV/CN joint committee of your canton (for example the CPGO in Geneva); elsewhere, it is the regional joint committee of the staff leasing agreement for French-speaking Switzerland (CPRR).
5. Go to the labour court of your canton. There is first a conciliation attempt. Up to CHF 30'000.00 claimed, there are no court costs (Civil Procedure Code, art. 113 and 114). In Geneva and in the canton of Vaud, this is the Tribunal des prud'hommes.

Do not wait too long: a salary claim expires after five years (CO, art. 128 no. 3). And during the contract, you cannot give up a salary that the law or the collective agreement guarantees you (CO, art. 341).