ETH Zurich’s salary system: how does it work?

Principle #1: The ETH Domain salary system

Employees with support functions in administration, IT and technical roles, management and executive support functions, and scientific functions such as senior scientists, leading scientific staff, senior assistants and scientific employees are all employed according to the ETH Domain salary system. This system defines the compensation rules for the entire ETH Domain as per the external pagepersonnel ordinance for the university.

Each function level has a salary band

If a position opens up or is newly created, the supervisor discusses the job with their HR partner and creates a job description. This contains the official job title and outlines the concrete tasks and objectives of the position as well as any associated responsibilities, decision-making powers or other requirements. This process applies to all vacancies at ETH Zurich regardless of how they are compensated.

For jobs covered by the ETH Domain salary system, HR partners assign the position to a function and functional level within the Downloadfunction grid of the ETH Domain (PDF, 106 KB) based on the job description.

This grid encompasses various functions, each assigned to one of 15 function levels. Each function level has a salary band with a minimum and maximum amount. These salary bands, also known as external pagesalary scales, are publicly accessible.

Determining your position in the salary band

Before an employee signs their employment contract with ETH Zurich, HR partners work with the supervisor to determine their individual starting salary within the appropriate salary band. Years of useful experience play a role here – this is determined based on a professional career typical for the requirements of the function. HR partners will also compare the salary with the salaries of other employees in similar roles, both in and outside the university, ensuring that the salary offered is competitive and fits within ETH’s pay structure.

Experience- and performance-based salary increases

At the end of the year, the salaries of all staff employed under the ETH Domain's salary system are reviewed and adjusted as of January 1st of the following year if necessary. For this purpose, the ETH Board annually determines the percentage available for individual salary increases. In recent years, this figure has stood at 1.2 percent.

This doesn’t mean that all employees automatically receive 1.2 percent more, however. Some employees may receive no raise, while others may receive more than 1.2 percent. Individual salary increases are based on experience and performance and depend on a number of factors:

The experience factor considers years of relevant experience – in other words, the steadily increasing work experience of each employee. Up to 15 years can be considered for this purpose. This means, for example, someone who was classified as having eight years of useful experience when starting their position can have their salary increase for up to seven years.

The performance factor starts from the baseline assumption that all employees are performing on a good or excellent level. In addition, each salary band has a target area that’s in the mid-range.

Beyond that, each employee’s individual performance and behaviour can be taken into account in the performance-based assessment. However, this depends on where their current salary falls within the salary band. If it’s already in the target range, it could be the case that employees with very good performance do not receive any additional performance-based points. Current salaries are also compared with the salaries of similar functions. Employees cannot negotiate their salaries.

Cost-of-living adjustments

In addition to individual raises, all employees in the ETH Domain salary system can potentially benefit from cost-of-living adjustments. At the end of each year, the ETH Board decides whether to grant this adjustment as of 1 January in the following year.

Principle #2: Fixed-rated salaries

Scientists with fixed-term employment contracts such as doctoral students, postdoctoral researchers and scientific assistants receive a salary determined by the Executive Board of ETH Zurich. Their payment increases by a predetermined amount in the second and third year, after which their salaries remain the same. There is an ETH-wide compensation scheme for postdocs and scientific assistants, while there are five compensation schemes available for doctoral students.

The Executive Board reviews fixed-rate salaries every year and adjusts them according to inflation if necessary.

Other compensation models

Hourly salary employment is possible for teaching assistants with irregular assignments. Lump-sum salaries can be paid to employees working on projects for the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) or other funding sources. Lump-sum salaries and hourly wages do not receive cost-of-living adjustments. Professors’ salaries are regulated separately according to the provisions of the external pageordinance of the ETH Board for professors.

What happens when you change functions?

When employees take on a new function, their function level and their salary may also change. Their salary is determined according to the same criteria as for a new hire. This means that higher function levels require higher levels of responsibility. It is important to keep in mind that continuing education does not lead to higher function levels or salaries.

Equal pay for equal work

ETH is committed to the principle of equal pay for equal (or equivalent) work. We commission regular external audits of this issue. You can find the results of the 2022 evaluation on our internal news site. The next evaluation is scheduled for mid-2025.