Equal Opportunities Act (Switzerland)
| Basic data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Federal law on equality between women and men |
| Short title: | Equal Opportunities Act |
| Abbreviation: | GIG |
| Type: | Federal law |
| Scope: | Switzerland |
| Legal matter: | Fundamental rights |
|
Systematic legal collection (SR) : |
151.1 |
| Original version from: | March 24, 1995 |
| Effective on: | July 1, 1996 |
| Effective date of the last change: |
January 1, 2011 |
| Please note the note on the applicable legal version. | |
The Swiss Federal Act on Equality between Women and Men (GlG) came into force on July 1, 1996. In particular, the Equal Opportunities Act forbids any form of discrimination against women or men in the field of gainful employment .
Most important regulations
Discrimination on the basis of gender is prohibited, particularly in the case of:
- working conditions
- Training, further education
- Promotions
- attitude
- redundancies
- Remuneration
- Distribution of tasks.
The central point of the law is Article 3: "Employees may not be disadvantaged, either directly or indirectly, on the basis of their gender, specifically not on the basis of marital status, family situation or, in the case of employees, pregnancy." Indirect and direct discrimination are not defined in more detail in the law. "Appropriate measures to achieve actual equality" are explicitly excluded (Art. 3, Para. 3).
The sexual harassment in the workplace is as discrimination prohibited (Art. 4).
Art. 5 regulates the legal claims of data subjects, which in particular include what is known as compensation and, under certain circumstances, compensation for damages or satisfaction. Compensation is limited to three to six average Swiss wages, depending on the case. Employees can sue for the establishment, elimination or omission of discrimination and for payment of the wages owed (retrospectively up to five years).
In order to make it easier for those affected to take legal action, the law grants them a lightening of the burden of proof in important areas , i. H. it "discrimination is presumed when it is substantiated by the data subject" (Art. 6). The easing of the burden of proof does not apply when it comes to sexual harassment or discriminatory non-employment.
The law also wants to facilitate the enforcement of existing legal claims by allowing association complaints and actions. This means that "organizations which, according to their statutes, promote equality between women and men or which protect the interests of employees and have existed for at least two years" can , under certain conditions, conduct litigation without the discriminated individual having to expose themselves ( Art. 7).
Employees who complain and conduct proceedings under the Equal Opportunities Act are protected from revenge dismissals from the start of (also internal) proceedings and up to six months after the conclusion of the proceedings (Art. 9 and 10).
The civil law procedures are laid down in further articles. A new cantonal arbitration procedure is being introduced. So-called arbitration boards «advise the parties and try to reach an agreement» (Art. 11, Para. 1). The procedure is free of charge.
Since then, the financial aid instrument (Art. 14) has been used to support so-called funding programs from public or private organizations that promote equality between women and men in working life. The establishment of the Federal Office for Equality between Women and Men (EBG) is also recorded and its tasks are defined (Art. 16).
Grants
Financial aid for general funding projects and advice centers
Trade unions , professional associations , women's and men's organizations, migrant self-organizations , educational institutions , cantonal administrative units and other interest groups are entitled to support payments . Areas of support are equality between women and men in the workplace and in the company, family-friendly framework conditions in working life and equality in the professional career. Applications can be submitted once a year on a fixed date. Hundreds of projects have been supported in this way since 1996. The projects and the materials developed in them are described in the database www.topbox.ch.
In addition, advice centers for women and men on questions of equality in working life are co-financed. Due to the limited funds, it was decided in 2007 not to support any new advice centers for the time being. 12 advice centers throughout Switzerland are currently receiving regular financial aid (as of November 2011).
Business grants
The report published by the Federal Office of Justice in 2006 on the “Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the Equal Opportunities Act” came to the conclusion that it is necessary to create incentives for companies so that they are committed to the implementation of actual equality. The majority of companies had hardly taken any gender equality measures beforehand. Companies have been able to receive direct support since 2009.
Financial aid to promote gender equality within the company is available to all private and public companies based in Switzerland; especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are addressed . Projects from the human resources area are supported, including, for example, analyzes of the status of equal opportunities, measures to promote gender skills among managers and employees, implementation of structures and instruments to promote equal opportunities, creation of family-friendly framework conditions for women and men, safeguarding equal pay (equal Pay for equal work of equal value), preventing sexual harassment and ensuring equal opportunities in recruiting, developing and maintaining staff Projects can be entered continuously. The final reports of the projects are published on the EBG website.
Web links
- Legal text
- All decisions under the Equal Opportunities Act in German-speaking Switzerland
- Federal Office for Equality between Women and Men
Individual evidence
- ↑ Page no longer available , search in web archives: evaluation report with six individual reports and synthesis report
- ↑ Company reports ( Memento of the original dated December 14, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
