Conference for equal pay in the public sector 

Specialists from cantons, municipalities and parastatal companies met in Bern at a conference organized by the Federal Office for Women’s and Men’s Equality to discuss the implementation of the Charter for Equal Pay in the Public Sector and its further development. 

In the context of eliminating wage inequality between women and men, the public sector should serve as an example. So what can authorities, parastatals and enterprises with a public mandate do to implement the constitutional principle that states that “men and women are entitled to equal pay for work of equal value”? And how can they, as employers, public principals or subsidy providers, promote equal pay?

These were the questions at the center of the conference organized by the Federal Office for Gender Equality (FOE) that took place this morning at the Bern Hotel and was attended by more than 100 human resource managers, specialists in the areas of public procurement and subsidies, equal opportunity delegates and delegates, representatives of the authorities and others interested in equal pay.

“In order for gender pay equality to become a reality, employers must be willing to carry out regular checks, communicate the results clearly and in detail, and make changes when necessary,” said Sylvie Durrer, director of the UFU, in her welcome address. At the conference, representatives from the cantons of Bern, Valais, Ticino and the City of Zurich explained how they carry out checks to ensure that service providers awarded public contracts or receiving subsidies respect equal pay for women and men. The City of Lausanne and the Valais municipality of Riddes, on the other hand, explained how they are addressing the root causes of wage inequality through an adjustment of the wage system. The conference was the latest in a series of events organized by the federal government on the topic of wage equality. In fact, since the beginning of March, about 300 people have participated in more than 20 webinars and discussion workshops.

Opuscolo – Il settore pubblico verso la parità salariale (italiano)

Brochure – Le secteur public sur la voie de l’égalité salariale (français)

Broschüre – Auf dem Weg zur Lohngleichheit (deutsch)

The Federal Council attaches great importance to wage equality. Indeed, it is one of the central goals of the Equality 2030 Strategy adopted by the Federal Council in spring 2021. In addition to the provision of tools for wage equality analysis (Logib modules 1 and 2), the Strategy also calls for a report on strengthening the Charter for Equal Pay in the Public Sector, which is expected to be published at the end of 2022. The goal is not only to gain broader support from the public sectorand parastatal companies: in order to send a strong signal to private and public employers, it is also necessary to better implement measures to promote equal pay. In this regard, the federal government makes information, tools, models and examples of implementation available to the signatories and ensures a regular exchange of information.

According to the relevant constitutional article, men and women are entitled to equal wages for work of equal value. Nonetheless, according to the latest Wage Structure Survey (RSS 2018) conducted by the Federal Statistical Office, the unexplained share of the wage gap between women and men averages 8.1 percent (compared to 7.7 percent revealed by the RSS in 2016). This represents a loss of earnings of 686 francs per month for women.

The Charter for Equal Pay in the Public Sector was launched in 2016 by Federal Councillor Alain Berset. By signing the charter, authorities, parastatal companies and companies with a public mandate confirmed their commitment to eliminating wage inequality between women and men. So far, the charter has been signed by 17 cantons, 125 municipalities and the federal government. With the recent accession of the ch Foundation/Conference of Cantonal Governments, there are now 89 companies and parastatal organizations that have signed the charter. 

Equality Strategy 2030 adopted by the Federal Council on April 28, 2021

This is the first national federal strategy to specifically promote gender equality and focuses on four fields of action:

• Professional and public life
• Reconciliation and family
• Gender-based violence
• Discrimination

The outlook indicates what the federal government, in cooperation with the cantons and municipalities, intends to achieve with its equality policy in the coming years.

Since the introduction of women’s suffrage in 1971 and the adoption of the constitutional article on equality in 1981, Switzerland has made progress in women’s equality, but has not yet fully implemented it. Therefore, improvement is needed. It is a matter of justice to women, but also a matter of social welfare and economic prosperity.

Strategia parità 2030 (italiano)

Stratégie Egalité 2030 (français)

Gleichstellungsstrategie 2030 (detusch)

To fill the gaps in this area, the Federal Council has decided to include in its 2019-2023 legislative program a national strategy for gender equality (Equality Strategy 2030), which emphasizes promoting professional equality, improving the reconciliation of work and family, and combating discrimination, sexism, and violence. The goal is to realize the de jure and de facto equality between women and men enshrined in Article 8 Paragraph 3 of the Federal Constitution.

• Women’s economic autonomy is strengthened throughout life, regardless of marital status and family situation.
• Women and men enjoy framework conditions that promote the reconciliation of private/family life and professional life, as well as the balanced distribution of paid work and unpaid domestic/family work.
• Violence against women and domestic violence decrease and women’s personal safety improves.
• Discrimination, sexism, and gender stereotypes are no longer tolerated by society and no longer limit women’s and men’s ways of life.

For each of these goals, the strategy contemplates a series of measures with both national and international scope. All departments and the Federal Chancellery are involved and responsible for implementing measures.

An action plan has been created with the aim of implementing the Strategy and carrying out the priority measures. In addition to the priority measures 2021-2023, the action plan contains new measures of the federal government that can be implemented until 2030.Within the framework of this action plan, contributions from the cantons and some examples of good practices from cities in the areas of “work and public life” and “discrimination” have been collected.

Women and men participate with equal opportunities in economic, family and social life, enjoy the same social security throughout their lives, and realize their aspirations in an environment marked by respect and free of discrimination and violence

Fonte: ebg.admin.ch