Swiss Union Federation launches blacklist for companies that do not comply with Gender Equality Act

By Timo Kirez

GENEVA (AA) - The Swiss labor federation Travail.Suisse launched a blacklist on Thursday to denounce companies that do not comply with the Gender Equality Act, it said in a press release.

According to the Swiss Federal Statistical Office, despite doing the same job with equal performance and experience, the unexplained wage difference between women and men in 2020 was 7.8%.

The Swiss parliament mandated equal pay analyses four years ago, and equal pay is now a law in Switzerland.

A list of companies that have carried out the equal pay analyses is already white-listed by Travail.Suisse.

"The blacklist makes it possible to sanction companies that violate the law but have not yet had to fear any negative consequences," Veronique Rebetez, the central secretary of the Syna trade union, wrote in the press release.

Travail.Suisse said they have thoroughly investigated reports from employees and, subsequently, they invited the companies in the report to take a stand.

They added that they did not include those to the list if the wage equality analysis was carried out correctly.

Director of the Swiss Trade Association SGV Hans-Ulrich Bigler, criticized the blacklist, telling the daily 20 Minuten on Thursday that similar proposals on lists and sanctions have already failed in parliament.

"What cannot be implemented in the ordinary political way, Travail.Suisse now wants to enforce with a crowbar - that is reprehensible behavior," Bigler added.

A spokesperson for the Swiss Employers' Association also criticized the plan, saying that initially published analyses already show that most companies would comply with the Equality Act, according to the daily.