Big firms required to publish gender pay gap in 2021

Large companies in Switzerland will have to analyse wages of men and women starting in 2020 and make the audited results available to staff in 2021. The Federal Council agreed on Wednesday that the equal pay revision to the Gender Equality Act, passed by parliament in December 2018, will come into force on July 1, 2020. Companies will have one year to publish a gender pay gap analysis audited by a qualified specialist. The law affects firms with 100 or more employees. Although this applies to less than 1% of companies in Switzerland, they employ 46% of workers. The analysis must be conducted every four years, unless the company shows no inexplicable wage gap between men and women in the first assessment. However, no sanctions will apply for companies with remaining pay gaps. Employers are not required to publish the results externally but must share them with employees. The requirement is valid for 12 years – until July 2032 when the law is set to expire. The government is ...