Pay equality is better observed in the Swiss government than in the private sector. But there are also exceptions. In the city council of Bern, the “inexplicable” wage difference between men and women is 3.8 percent. This is evident from the analysis of equal pay conducted in 2021.
The wage gap of 3.8 percent in all departments of the city administration is below the tolerance threshold of 5 percent set by the federal government, the city of Bern announced on Friday. Nevertheless, the city council wants additional clarifications to take further measures against the still existing “significant wage gap between men and women”.
Almost 12 percent pay difference
The city of Bern last performed an equal pay analysis in 2017. An inexplicable wage difference of 1.8 percent was then calculated – but with an incorrect calculation method. With the calculation method correctly applied, the values for 2017 would be at a comparable level to those for 2021, the press release continues.
The most recent analysis from March 2021 looked at the wages of a total of 3968 employees, 2173 of whom were women. The average wage for women is CHF 6,896 and for men CHF 7,785, which corresponds to a difference of 11.4 percent.
If non-discriminatory factors such as qualifications, age, seniority and position are taken into account, the pay gap is reduced to 3.8 percent. (lazy)