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The Committee notes the detailed information provided by the Government in its report and attached documents.

Article 1(1) of the Convention. Coverage of minimum wages. The Committee notes the Government’s explanations on the legislative and administrative measures taken to extend protection in respect of minimum wages to posted workers. It notes, in particular, that the Federal Act of 8 October 1999 on minimum working and wage conditions applicable to posted workers aims at preventing wage or social dumping as a result of work performed by workers temporarily posted in Switzerland to the detriment of workers permanently installed in the country. In this connection, the Committee notes that, under section 4 of the Federal Act, minimum wage rates do not apply to work carried out by posted workers in case of work of a limited nature, or work related to the assembly or installation of goods, when the total duration of such work does not exceed eight days. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide additional information on the application of that provision in practice, for instance, the criteria established by the Federal Council for determining “work of a limited nature” as well as some indication as to the approximate number of posted workers who fall outside the coverage of minimum pay rates on the basis of the above exceptions. The Committee would also appreciate receiving up to date statistical data concerning the enforcement of the federal legislation on posted workers, including, for instance, the number of minimum wage-related offences reported and the number of employers who have been forbidden from rendering their services in the country for a period of one to five years by virtue of section 9(2)(b) of the Federal Act.

More generally, the Committee notes that, according to the information provided by the Government, the coverage rate of collective agreements establishing minimum wages remains particularly low (28.5 per cent in 2005). In addition, based on data published by the Federal Bureau of Statistics in 2006, 26 per cent of unskilled workers employed in the sale and repair of motor vehicles sector and 17 per cent of those employed in retail trade earn less than the collectively agreed minimum wage. As regards skilled workers, 23 per cent of those employed in the construction sector and 15 per cent of those employed in manufacturing are remunerated at rates below the minimum wage levels. Moreover, several sectors such as the textile, chemical, metalworking and leather products sectors do not have branch-wide collective agreements establishing minimum wages. The Committee would thank the Government for providing information on any new measures aiming at ensuring broader coverage of minimum pay levels. It would also be interested in receiving more detailed information on current initiatives and the ongoing debate about the possible introduction of a statutory minimum wage at the cantonal level.

Article 5 and Part V of the report form. While noting the statistical data of 2005 concerning minimum wage scales for unskilled–skilled manpower in the various branches of economic activity, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would continue to supply documented information on the effect given to the Convention in practice, including, for instance, information on the evolution of minimum pay rates as compared to the evolution of economic indicators such as the consumer price index, the approximate number of workers remunerated at the minimum pay rate, if possible broken down by sex and age, inspection results showing the number of infringements of the minimum wage legislation observed and sanctions imposed, extracts from official studies or reports on minimum wage policy, etc.

Finally, the Committee wishes to draw the Government’s attention to the conclusions of the ILO Governing Body as regards the relevance of the Convention following the recommendations of the Working Party on Policy regarding the Revision of Standards (GB.283/LILS/WP/PRS/1/2, paragraphs 19 and 40). In fact, the Governing Body has decided that Convention No. 26 is among those instruments which may no longer be fully up to date but remain relevant in certain respects. The Committee therefore suggests that the Government should consider the possibility of ratifying the Minimum Wage Fixing Convention, 1970 (No. 131), which contains certain improvements compared to older instruments on minimum wage fixing, for instance, as regards its broader scope of application, the requirement for a comprehensive minimum wage system and the enumeration of the criteria for the determination of minimum wage levels. The Committee requests the Government to keep the Office informed of any decision taken or envisaged in this regard.

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The Committee notes the Government’s report and the attached documentation. It notes with interest the information, particularly the statistics, on changes in the average minimum wages established in collective labour agreements between 1999 and 2001 in the various sectors. The Committee notes in this respect that, according to the data provided by the Federal Statistical Office, a large proportion of workers whose employment relationship is only governed by an individual employment contract earn less than those who are covered by a collective labour agreement establishing minimum wages. In particular, it notes that, with reference to unskilled workers alone, this situation concerns, among other occupational categories, some 25 per cent of workers in the metalworking sector, 24 per cent in the sale and repair of motor vehicles sector and 19 per cent in the health and social work sector. The Committee also notes, from the same sources, that important sectors of the economy, such as the manufacture of machinery and equipment, the manufacture of precision instruments and watchmaking and the wholesale and retail trade do not have collective agreements establishing minimum wages. In this respect, recalling that, in accordance with Article 1, paragraph 1, of the Convention, a State which ratifies this instrument is not bound to create or maintain minimum wage fixing machinery where there exist arrangements for the effective regulation of wages by collective agreement, the Committee recalls that a system for the establishment of minimum wages, whether of a legislative nature or by agreement, can only be considered effective within the meaning of the Convention in so far as it excludes the possibility of exceptionally low wages and establishes real minimum levels below which workers’ earnings must not fall. With regard to the considerable number of workers who are still not covered by minimum wages established by agreement, as well as the relatively low coverage rate of collective labour agreements establishing minimum wages (34 per cent on average in 2001) and the number of sectors not covered by collective agreements establishing minimum wages, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would supply fuller information with its next report on the measures adopted or envisaged with a view to extending the necessary social protection to all workers in relation to admissible minimum wage levels.

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In accordance with Article 5 (read in conjunction with point V of the report form), the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the application of the Convention in practice, for example: (i) the minimum rates of wages applicable; (ii) available statistics on the number and various categories of workers covered by the minimum wage regulations; and (iii) the results of any inspections carried out (including any cases of violations reported, sanctions imposed, etc.).