Revised Swiss Gender Equality Act

On average, women earn about 18% less than men in Switzerland. The reasons for this gap are various. Based on an analysis, however, only 56% of the gap can be explained by factors such as professional status, years of service or qualifications, while 44% of the gap remains unexplained (Source: Federal Statistical Office ESS 2016).

Equal pay emphasizes that woman and men are entitled to equal pay for performing work of equal value.

The principle of equal pay for women and men has been enshrined in the Federal Constitution since 1981 and substantiated in the Gender Equality Act since 1996. The revised equal pay regulations are effective as of 1 July 2020 and end on 30 June 2032.

The revised law comprises 3 steps:

• Analysis of equal pay in line with a recognised method ("EBG-Konformitätserklärung")
• Verification of the analysis by authorised and specially trained independent body
• Communication of the result to the employees for the non-public companies and to employees and the shareholders for the public companies

Who is affected under the Swiss Gender Equality Act?

Organisations with 100 or more employees as of 1 January 2020

• Private companies and public organisations
• Including all employees (number of employees are measured by heads and not by full time equivalents)
• Excluding apprentice and trainees as it is a special type of contract and employees with a permanent job abroad in accordance with foreign law

Repeat the analysis every 4 years, unless the analysis shows equal pay.

Exempt from the obligation to carry out an internal equal pay analysis:

• If a company is inspected in the context of public procurement or subsidies with regard to compliance with equal pay (when such a control took place between July 2016 and June 2020)
• If the analysis and the audit of this analysis has already confirmed that equality exists
• Less than 100 employees.

How to prepare for the revised Swiss Gender Equality Act

Step by step

• Define the method to be applied, obtain the software and review the data requirements.
• Define the reference month—there are different considerations, e.g. the month after the payment of bonuses can minimize the bias from new joiners.
• Start collecting all necessary information (e.g. highest education certificate of each employee needs to be added. Not all employers have complete information about this (it is sufficient to get this information by self-declaration from the employee).
• Prepare a preliminary analysis to ensure that your data is complete and accurate.
• Run actual analysis and analyse the results.
• Ask an independent body for the verification
• Communicate the results to the employees and the shareholders (if listed company).