
Swiss employers will no longer be required to monitor for wage equality; an SBB app helps commuters keep cool; and more news in our roundup on Wednesday.
Companies in Switzerland will no longer be required to monitor for wage equality
From 2032, large Swiss companies will no longer be obligated to carry out equal gender pay analyses, the Council of States decided on Tuesday.
Currently. employers with 100 or more workers are required to conduct an independent, verified wage equality analysis to ensure pay parity.
This kind of oversight has been mandatory in Switzerland since July 2020, and found pay disparities between sexes.
For instance, women in jobs with a high level of responsibility earned a gross monthly wage of 10,077 francs, while men at the same level received 11,715 francs,
The SBB app shows which trains don’t have air-conditioning
With the heatwave expected to hit Switzerland from today, this is an important piece of information for commuters.
Until the month of September, a thermometer symbol is displayed on the SBB website and app with the message “Without air conditioning” on train connections that are not cooled in summer.
A train without air conditioning is, however, a rare exception these days, according to the SBB.
“Only very few trains are affected, mostly older vehicles,” the company said. “Around 98 percent of our trains are air-conditioned.”
Zurich residents may soon be able to deduct taxes from their wages
Following the approval of this tax regime in a local referendum in Basel-City on June 14th, Zurich legislators also want to introduce automatic tax deductions from wages.
Several Zurich deputies have already submitted a parliamentary initiative to this effect.
If accepted, this would make Zurich the second canton where companies will automatically withdraw taxes from employees’ salaries, rather than having workers pay taxes due themselves on monthly basis.
Lausanne police warn about a new ‘parking ticket’ scam
Fake parking tickets have been targeting Lausanne motorists lately.
These bogus tickets trick recipients into scanning a QR code to supposedly pay a parking fine.
The fake fines redirect drivers to fraudulent sites such as “parking-bulletin.com”, which usurp the visual identity of the Parking Foundation, the cantonal police said in a press release on Tuesday.
Police are urging the public to be vigilant and reminding them of the best practices to adopt with this type of fraud: immediately contact your bank and block the cards used to pay the fraudulent ticket.
If you have any questions about life in Switzerland, ideas for articles or news tips for The Local, please get in touch with us at news@thelocal.ch

