Heidi › Cross-border workers
Family allowances for cross-border workers: Switzerland or France?
It all depends on what your partner does. If they do not work, or if they work in Switzerland too, Switzerland pays first.
If they work in France or draw unemployment benefit there, the CAF pays first — and the Swiss fund then pays you the difference, because Swiss amounts are nearly always higher.
This differential supplement is the one many families never claim, simply because they do not know it exists. And a claim can go back as far as five years.
The federal minimum per child per month
268 CHF for a child in education. Cantons often pay more.
How far back you can claim
A late claim can recover several years at once.
Who pays, depending on your situation
| What your partner does | Who pays first | And then |
|---|---|---|
| They do not work | Switzerland | Nothing to claim from the CAF |
| They work in Switzerland | Switzerland | Nothing to claim from the CAF |
| They work in France | The French CAF | The Swiss fund pays the difference, once you produce the E 411 certificate |
| They draw French unemployment benefit | The French CAF | Same thing: a Swiss differential supplement |
The Swiss amounts
| Your employer's canton | Per child per month |
|---|---|
| Vaud | 322 CHF |
| Geneva | 311 CHF |
| Basel-City and Jura | 275 CHF |
| Neuchâtel | 240 CHF |
| Federal minimum | 215 CHF |
2026 amounts for the child allowance. The federal minimum for a child in education is 268 CHF, and here too the cantons apply their own rates. It is your employer's canton that counts, not the one you live in.
The child allowance runs until the end of the month in which the child turns 16, and until 20 in the case of illness or disability. The education allowance then takes over while they study, until 25 at the latest.
The condition to know about
To qualify as an employee, you have to earn at least 630 francs gross a month, or 7,560 francs a year. Below that threshold, there is no allowance.
Swiss birth and adoption allowances are not paid to people living in France. The birth grant is claimed on the French side, from the CAF, as part of the PAJE.
This causes confusion all the time: you read that your canton pays a birth allowance, you claim it, and you are turned down.
What to do
-
Go through your employer
They are the ones who pass the claim on to their compensation office. You do not deal with the office directly.
-
Have the CAF fill in the E 411 certificate
It sets out what France pays, or does not pay. That document is what lets the Swiss fund work out the difference.
-
Report every change
A partner going back to work, a separation, a move: each of these changes which country pays first, and so the amount.
If you have never claimed the differential supplement, do it now: you can go back five years. For two children and a gap of 150 francs a month per child, that comes to several thousand francs.
And check which canton is used: it is your employer's. Moving to an employer in another canton changes the amount, and nobody will tell you.
The three most common mistakes
- Not claiming the differential supplement. When the CAF pays first, Switzerland has to pay the difference — but only if you claim it.
- Forgetting the E 411 certificate. Without it the Swiss fund can work nothing out, and your file goes nowhere.
- Expecting a Swiss birth allowance. It is not paid to people living in France: that one is down to the CAF.
Who should be paying in your case, and how much are you missing?
Heidi's cross-border mode works out the supplement and the years you can still recover.
The questionnaire, the rules that apply to you, the thresholds and the deadlines are free. The figures — net pay, the cascade, the cost of the commute — are in Heidi Plus.
Read next
- Retirement as a cross-border worker: AVS, the second pillar and the second right to choose
- How much do you take home in Switzerland as a cross-border worker?
- Cross-border workers: LAMal or French cover? The right to choose explained
- Unemployment as a cross-border worker: where to register, who pays and how much?
Sources
Page written by the Heidi team and updated on 13 November 2026. The amounts are those in force in 2026 and come from cantonal rates that are revised regularly. Particular situations — separation, self-employment, a pension paid in France — follow their own rules: the decision rests with the competent compensation office.