Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Switzerland (Ratification: 1972)

Wage gap. The Committee notes the detailed information provided by the Government concerning the wage gap between men and women. It notes that in 2008 the wage differential in the private sector was 19.4 per cent (as compared to 19.1 per cent in 2006), and that it was stable at 12.9 per cent at the national level between 2006 and 2008 (17.4 per cent for the cantonal public sector and 8.9 per cent for the communal public sector in 2008 – a slight decline compared to 2006 in both cases). The Committee notes that more and more enterprises have recourse to fringe benefits but that statistical information on the payment of such benefits disaggregated by sex are still not available. It nonetheless notes that, according to the Government, the examination of the effects of fringe benefits on equal remuneration for men and women is still on the agenda and should become a reality from 2012. The Committee asks the Government to continue to provide information on developments regarding the wage gap between men and women in the public and private sectors. It hopes that the Government will shortly be in a position to provide statistical information disaggregated by sex on fringe benefits paid by enterprises, and asks it to study the underlying causes of the differentials in the wages paid to men and women for work of equal value with a view to remedying them.

Article 4 of the Convention. Cooperation with employers’ and workers’ organizations. The Committee notes that in a communication received on 26 August 2008 and forwarded to the Government on 4 September 2008, the Swiss Federation of Trade Unions (USS/SGB) indicated that the unions’ initial assessment of their campaign to monitor equal pay was mixed and that very few enterprises had agreed to a compulsory joint monitoring exercise undertaken with the assistance of the trade unions. The Committee notes with interest that an initiative entitled “Dialogue on Equal Wages” was launched in March 2009 and is being implemented by the employers’ and workers’ organizations, the aim being to encourage enterprises to analyse pay scales of their own free will and eliminate any discrimination noted as soon as they are able. The Committee notes that the dialogue has in fact been in operation since the summer of 2010 and that within one year, 12 enterprises had decided to join the project. The Committee also notes that the body responsible for the dialogue is tripartite and that it is to pursue the dialogue at least until 2014. The Committee hopes that the “Dialogue on equal wages” will enable wage differentials between men and women to be reduced significantly, with cooperation from the social partners, and asks the Government to take the necessary steps to promote this initiative so as to encourage as many enterprises as possible to participate. It asks the Government to continue to provide information on the implementation of the dialogue and how it has affected the reduction of wage differentials, specifying the roles played by workers’ and employers’ organizations.

Application of the principle in the public service and public contracts. The Committee notes that according to the data published for 2006 by the Federal Office for Gender Parity, in the federal administration and enterprises of the Confederation, women earn roughly 18 per cent less than men and hold very few senior management posts. The Committee notes with interest the measures taken to promote wage equality in the federal administration, and more particularly the measures to promote use of the Logib programme (the Confederation’s equal remuneration instrument), and the signing, in November 2010, of an agreement between the federal administration and federal staff associations which provides for wages to be monitored using Logib and for the elimination of any wage discrimination, in the context of the tripartite Dialogue on Equal Wages launched in March 2009. The Committee notes that this project which aims to apply the principle of equal wages for work of equal value, began on 1 January 2011 and is to continue until 31 December 2014. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the implementation of the agreement between the federal administration and federal staff associations, the results of the wage analysis and the measures taken to remedy any inequalities noted. It strongly encourages the Government to pursue the efforts to circulate information on the means of achieving wage equality, among human resource officers in the federal administration, and public employees and their unions, and to ensure effective application of the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value in the federal administration.

As regards public contracts, the Committee notes that the Ordinance on Public Procurement (OMP) was amended in 2009 and that as a result, observance of the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value is required also for work or services performed by bidders abroad. According to the Government, the Procurement Committee of the Confederation recommends that contractors ask bidders to sign a statement undertaking to observe the provisions in force on equal wages and the conditions of work and health protection of workers, and this recommendation is followed by many cantons and communes. The Committee notes in this connection that the Canton of Bern has launched a pilot project aiming to introduce a requirement for bidders to confirm in writing and to demonstrate in a credible manner that they apply equal wages. The Committee welcomes the measures taken to ensure that, in public procurement, bidding enterprises respect and apply the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value, and asks the Government to continue to provide information on the measures adopted to this end and on the results obtained under the abovementioned pilot project.