Do what works for you based on when and how you will use your undercabinet lighting. Your contractor may have a good reason for suggesting an alternative but they won’t be living in your house using your lights every day.

Our undercabinet lighting is switchless; we operate it via voice assistant or an app on our phone. I love it because I never have to be near a switch at all. Our recessed lights also operate via voice but we do have switches for them as well. We went wiith Lutron Caseta and purchased the wall switch that came with a ”remote” or second switch that doesn’t have to be hard wired. That way you can have two switches without having to do a formal three way setup.

I have mine on the wall where I walk into the kitchen -- we walk in there, hit the switch, and they're on. I located it based on foot traffic patterns into/out of the kitchen. This was important because often they're the only lights that get turned on -- convenient and safer than walking across the kitchen to hit the switch.

ETA: The switch for the undercabinets is in a bank of switches that also contains the overhead switches. I placed the undercabinet switch closest to the edge so we can just hit the first switch when we walk in there.

My undercabinet light switches are right next to my overhead lights switches at both entrances to my kitchen. I want them on whenever I am in my kitchen. For me, they are not just task lighting - they help illuminate the space and contribute to layered lighting. I think it depends on how large your kitchen is, how much other light you get in the space. If you truly only want to use it for intensive task lighting then place it closer to your counters.

Mine are by the sink (combined with an outlet) we have separate switches for the over-sink extra light and the full undercabinet array.

90% of the time I put the undercabinet switch in the backsplash. I don’t like big banks of switches do in my case the dining room chandelier and kitchen cans get switched at the entrance, the island pendant are switched at the island, UC lights switched from the backsplash (I actually hid the switch up under the cabinet to keep the splash clear)

Can there be more than one switch for them? One by the door, one by where you work under them?

I was going to suggest what @bpath said. we have all of our kitchen lights switched on both entrances. super easy and doesn't matter what way you enter to get lights on.

This^^^.

That’s how our switches are set up. Most often, it’s just the undercab lights that I turn on when entering the kitchen.

I agree with Hallett on having the UCL switch somewhere else in most kitchens. UCL's are not main task lighting, do not cover all the counters, and the Kitchen here is also a circulation space so many times you just need lighting to pass through and are not concerned with accent lighting, so the less banks of multiple switches you have the better.

Thanks! We will ask our contractor if we can do a three way switch for the UCLs - one at the main entrance near the front hall and dining room, one on the wall between the range and single window (the main prep area). Not sure if the clean up wall UCLs should be on a separate wall backsplash switch or not.