Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2008, published 98th ILC session (2009)

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.