Hiring a UK employee from Switzerland: what Swiss companies need to know

A Swiss company can take on a UK employee without setting up a UK company. Switzerland isn't in the EU, so the UK and EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement doesn't settle this. The UK and Switzerland have their own Convention on Social Security Coordination, and under it a Swiss employer usually pays UK employer's National Insurance. The rule for the employer is in the Convention's Article 18(1). Here's the practical version for Swiss founders, HR and finance teams: the two routes, what you have to do, and how long it takes.

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Five things that change for a Swiss employer

• Employer's National Insurance is due, even with no UK company. An employer based in the EU, Gibraltar, the Isle of Man, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein can owe it as well, when the employee works in the UK and UK National Insurance is due. Under the UK and Switzerland Convention on Social Security Coordination, an employer whose registered office or place of business is outside the UK has to meet its obligations under UK law, including paying the contributions, just as if it had its registered office or place of business in the UK. For most employees, UK employer's National Insurance is 15% of pay above £5,000 a year. It is the employer's cost, not the employee's.
• Right-to-work checks come first. You must check that a job applicant is allowed to work for you in the UK before you employ them. For British and Irish citizens you check original documents, such as a passport or passport card; for anyone else you can check online if they've given you their share code.
• Payroll is reported in real time. Each payday's report goes to HMRC on or before the payday, and your employee gets a payslip on or before it too.
• A workplace pension is part of the job. The automatic enrolment rules reach workers who work or ordinarily work in Great Britain, and you enrol those who qualify. The legal minimum is 8% of the employee's earnings, and you as the employer pay at least 3% of that.
• Holiday and the written statement are set by law. Almost every worker is entitled to 5.6 weeks' paid holiday a year, which can include bank holidays, and the main terms of employment have to be given in writing on the first day.

Your two routes, both in your company's name

1. An NI-only scheme

An NI-only scheme deals with National Insurance only, not income tax. Your company stays the employer, and the scheme carries both the employee's and the employer's National Insurance. On each payday report, the pay is shown for National Insurance, the tax fields are left at zero and the tax code is NT.

This scheme doesn't take your employee's income tax off their pay. They pay their income tax through their own Self Assessment or, if they'd rather, through a tax-only scheme in their name.

If an employer also provides expenses and benefits, HMRC set its record up as a "P" scheme instead of an NI-only one, because they expect a form P11D(b) and a Class 1A National Insurance charge.

2. Your own UK PAYE scheme

HMRC's guidance says an employer with no UK presence isn't required to operate PAYE, but can choose to operate it voluntarily. On its own PAYE scheme your company takes the employee's income tax off their pay as well as the National Insurance. The employer pays employer's National Insurance, not the employee.

One point on income tax: if you send your employee to work for a UK business, such as a UK client you supply them to, HMRC's guidance says that business must operate PAYE on their pay, unless you choose to run PAYE on it yourself.

There is also a third way, an Employer of Record, which becomes the legal employer in your place. What that costs a Swiss company, set beside the direct route, is on our page on Employer of Record UK for Swiss companies. For our own fees, see pricing, or answer four quick questions to find your route.

What you have to do as the employer

• Check the right to work before your employee starts.
• Register the scheme before the first payday. The scheme should be registered before the first payday. HMRC take registrations for an NI-only scheme by phone or post. Your company registers it in its own name, and can authorise us to act for it.
• Give the written statement of the main terms on the first day of work.
• Set up the workplace pension. You'll need to open the pension scheme with a provider and give us access to it, because the scheme belongs to the employer and is set up in the employer's name.
• Pay HMRC on time. HMRC's deadline for a PAYE bill is the 22nd of the next tax month if you pay monthly, or the 22nd after the end of the quarter if you pay quarterly. If you pay by cheque through the post, it must reach HMRC by the 19th of the month.
• Send pay details in pounds. A salary paid in another currency is still chargeable in the UK, and the amount has to be worked out in pounds sterling. When you send us pay details, please convert them to pounds sterling first, rather than leaving them in another currency.

How long it takes

We'd allow four to eight weeks for HMRC to set the scheme up, and that's our own estimate, not a figure from HMRC. Nothing goes to HMRC until the engagement is signed and our identity checks are done, so our four to eight weeks starts then, not today. If pay starts before the scheme is in place, payroll still runs every payday and is reported to HMRC late once the scheme exists.

Someone you send from Switzerland for a while

Someone working in the UK for an employer in the EU, Gibraltar, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein usually pays UK National Insurance, unless they have a certificate of coverage from that country. GOV.UK describes the certificate as being for someone employed in Switzerland by an employer who normally works there and coming to work temporarily in the UK for up to two years, and it also lists working in Switzerland and the UK at the same time. If your employee already has one, there's no National Insurance scheme to register and no fee for one.

UK payroll quick facts

Estimate the all-in cost of a UK hire with our free employer-cost calculator, or see what a UK employee really costs.

Common questions

Does a Swiss company need a UK company to employ someone in the UK?

Not to run UK payroll. The company can employ the person itself, either through an NI-only scheme registered in the company's own name or by running UK PAYE in its own name. Where UK National Insurance is due on a Swiss employer's UK employee, it is due on both sides, the employee's and the employer's, and the scheme for that is an NI-only scheme in the employer's name, not a DPNI or DCNI. We will ask HMRC for the scheme that fits your facts, and they may suggest a different one once they have the full facts.

Does a Swiss company pay UK employer's National Insurance?

Usually, yes. Having no UK office or place of business doesn't on its own remove UK employer's National Insurance, because where a social security agreement applies, it treats the employer as if it were based in the UK. Under the UK and Switzerland Convention on Social Security Coordination, an employer whose registered office or place of business is outside the UK has to meet its obligations under UK law, including paying the contributions, just as if it had its registered office or place of business in the UK. For most employees, UK employer's National Insurance is 15% of pay above £5,000 a year. It is the employer's cost, not the employee's.

How does the employee pay income tax on an NI-only scheme?

This scheme doesn't take your employee's income tax off their pay. They pay their income tax through their own Self Assessment or, if they'd rather, through a tax-only scheme in their name.

How soon can a Swiss company pay its UK employee?

We'd allow four to eight weeks for HMRC to set the scheme up, and that's our own estimate, not a figure from HMRC. Nothing goes to HMRC until the engagement is signed and our identity checks are done, so our four to eight weeks starts then, not today. The scheme should be registered before the first payday. If pay starts before the scheme is in place, payroll still runs every payday and is reported to HMRC late once the scheme exists.

Working with us from Switzerland

Approvals and queries come to us by email, and we reply within one UK business day. Your employee's payslips, RTI filings and pension submissions all run on UK statutory deadlines without you tracking them.

This guide is general information, not tax, legal or immigration advice, and reflects our understanding of the rules as at October 2026. Your circumstances may differ, so please get specific advice before acting.