CMNT_TITLE

1. The Committee notes with interest the adoption on 24 March 1995 of the Federal Act on equality between men and women and its coming into force on 1 July 1996, and particularly section 3, which prohibits any discrimination on the ground of sex in respect, inter alia, of remuneration; section 6, which lightens the burden of proof in disputes relating, among other matters, to equal remuneration; and section 7, which permits, under certain conditions, trade unions and women's organizations to bring cases of discrimination to the courts. The Committee asks the Government to supply information on the measures that have been taken to promote and supervise the application of the new Act as it relates to equal remuneration for men and women workers for work of equal value. In this respect, the Committee requests the Government to supply information on court decisions relating to both cases brought by trade unions and women's organizations under section 7 of the new Act and cases brought directly by the persons concerned with or without the assistance of these organizations. In particular, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide information on the appeal made to the Federal Tribunal by the female infant and home economics teachers in Fribourg claiming equal wages with their male colleagues, with the text of the decision taken.

2. The Committee notes that, with a view to the coming into force of the new Act on equality, the Federal Bureau on Equality between Men and Women is having a job evaluation instrument drawn up which will be gender neutral and will contribute to the introduction of a non-discriminatory wage system in enterprises and administrative departments. The Committee asks the Government to provide a copy of this document when it is completed. In the meantime, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would supply any information available on the progress achieved in the implementation by enterprises, the administration and the trade unions of the directives and recommendations on equal wages and the evaluation of work contained in the brochure "Men and women are entitled to equal wages for work of equal value", to which it referred in its previous report. The Committee would be grateful to be provided with a copy of any system for the classification of functions in a gender neutral manner that has been developed on the basis of these recommendations.

3. Noting that the Federal Bureau on Equality has systematically been requested to discharge a mediation function in wage negotiations and in cases of wage discrimination, the Committee asks the Government to indicate the results of wage negotiations and the decisions taken in cases of wage discrimination in which such mediation was requested.

4. While noting with interest the establishment of two new cantonal bureaus for equality between men and women and the establishment of a position on personnel and equality law in another Canton, the Committee is concerned by the doubt cast over the existence and the risk of the abolition of a number of cantonal bureaus, including those in Zurich and Bern, and the abolition in 1995 of the cantonal bureau in Zug. The Committee requests the Government to state whether this risk still persists and, if so, the measures that have been taken or are envisaged to eliminate the risk and ensure that all the cantonal bureaus on equality continue to exist and benefit from adequate resources until the objectives for which they were created are completely achieved, in particular the elimination of discriminatory practices on grounds of sex and the promotion of equal remuneration between men and women workers for work of equal value. The Committee also requests the Government to state whether the abolition of the bureau on equality of the Canton of Zug was justified, and, if not, the measures that have been taken or are envisaged, particularly by the Federal Bureau on Equality, to encourage and assist its re-establishment.

5. The Committee notes with interest the detailed statistics supplied with the report on, among other matters, wage differentials between women and men. It notes, according to the results of the 1994 survey on wage structures, published in the autumn of 1996 by the Federal Statistics Office, that the wages of women remain substantially lower than those of men and that in 1994 women earned one-quarter less than men, or an average of 24 per cent or 1,238 Swiss francs less. Better training only results in a slight reduction of this differential. The concentration of women in occupations that are traditionally less well remunerated, the effects of seniority and the high proportion of women working part time all contribute to the considerable wage differentials between women and men. The Committee requests the Government to continue to keep it informed of the results of periodic surveys on trends in wage differentials between the sexes.