Switzerland’s legal framework anchored in the Constitution (Article 8) and the Federal Act on Gender Equality (GEA) prohibits gender-based pay discrimination. However, enforcement to date has been largely reactive, relying on individual complaints rather than proactive oversight.
Switzerland’s revised Gender Equality Act, effective since 2020, requires companies with over 100 employees to conduct a pay equity analysis. This analysis aims to uncover unjustified pay disparities between male and female employees, serving as a crucial first step toward workplace gender equality. While Switzerland’s legislation is comparatively strict — mandating external audits and defined methodologies, it currently lacks robust monitoring and a long-term enforcement perspective.
In 2025, the Swiss government published an interim assessment of the pay equity law which gained a lot of attention: it clearly called out shortcomings in terms of effectiveness and revealed that almost half of organizations that were assessed did not comply with the requirements. With the EU Pay Transparency Directive set to take effect in less than four months from today, the Swiss government faces increasing pressure to modernize its approach. Enhancing transparency and accountability will be two key levers for advancing pay equity.