Swiss law prohibits any form of discrimination in the workplace, but the US looks set to impose its own policies on employers in Switzerland.
According to media reports, Swiss companies that conduct business in the United States will soon receive a letter from the US Embassy in Bern, demanding that they abandon practices aiming to create a more inclusive and equitable working environment for their employees — just as Swiss legislation mandates.
Similar letters were sent out by the US embassy in France and Spain.
This includes hiring practices based on gender equality, and the obligation for companies with 100 or more workers to carry out an internal analysis of whether male and female employees earn equal wages for the same job, among other measures.
But that is no longer the case in the United States, where President Donald Trump abolished all targeted advancement programs for women and minorities soon after he took office in January 2025.
And now he is set to pressure Swiss companies to follow his lead as well.
What is going on?
Basically, this means that instead of complying with Switzerland’s law, Swiss employers will have to adhere to the (new) American one, or be faced with being banned from the US.
Large Swiss corporations like UBS, Roche and Novartis, which heavily depend on the American market, are reportedly removing the mention of their equality and diversity goals from publicly available documents, so as not to antagonise the US administration.
Trump’s heavy-handed approach is, unsurprisingly, sparking criticism from Switzerland’s legislators.
“Swiss companies have to comply with our law, not US regulations, especially since equality targets are enshrined in Switzerland’s law,” said MP Min Li Marti. “Preemptive obedience is out of place here.”
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Also in Geneva
This would not be Trump’s first, or only, attempt to impose his regulations in Switzerland.
In March, the US had already circulated questionnaires among UN and NGO employees in Geneva, with questions inspired by “the ideology of the US administration,” according to Tribune de Genève.
This was reportedly done to determine whether the US should continue to help finance these organisations or cut the funding off, as it had already done for the World Health Organisation (WHO), the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), and International Migration Organisations (IOM).
The 30-plus-question form includes these queries:
- Can you confirm that your organisation does not work with entities associated with communism, socialism, totalitarianism, or any other entity that espouses anti-American beliefs?
- Does your organisation create measurable benefits for U.S.-based industries, workforces, and various economic sectors?
- Does your agency receive funding from China, Russia, Cuba and Iran?
(All four countries are members of the United Nations, so they naturally contribute funding to the organisation).
READ ALSO: UN employees in Geneva asked to complete Trump’s ‘patriotic’ questionnaire
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Will Swiss companies and other organisations give in to Trump’s demands ?
Probably, because it is in their best interest to do so.
Anyone who doesn’t want to see their funding cut — or disappear altogether — or be barred from the US market, will likely comply, even if unwillingly.
