As the Swiss parliament begins its summer session on June 2nd, deputies will tackle some as yet-unresolved matters. Here’s what’s on the line.
Wages
There is no national minimum wage legislation in Switzerland, and to date only five cantons — Geneva, Jura, Neuchâtel, Ticino, and Basel-City — have introduced minimum pay on their territories.
However, some MPs have argued that cantonal wage laws should no longer be allowed to override the salaries set out in collective labour agreements (CLA).
Negotiated between employers and trade unions, CLAs cover a minimum wage for each type of work.
The deputies will therefore debate whether CLAs can cancel out minimum wage laws in the cantons where this legislation exists.
Taxes
MPs will come back to the still unresolved issue of taxation of married couples.
In March, the narrow majority of deputies in the Council of States approved a reform of the longstanding legislation by allowing separate, rather than joint, taxation of spouses.
Today, married couples are taxed together, which means that if both partners are employed, they often have to pay higher taxes than unmarried couples filing separately.
Their income is added (and taxed) together regardless of who made what.
But the under the draft law, which will be fine-tuned by the National Council during the summer session — the income and assets of married couples are to be taxed separately.
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Parental leave
There have been numerous calls for the creation of uniform parental leave at the Swiss level (right now, it is left up to cantons).
Therefore, MPs will debate supporters’ arguments about whether the introduction of national parental leave could indeed contribute to strengthening equality between women and men, and improving the reconciliation of family and professional life.
At the same time, propents say, young parents, especially women, would be encouraged to remain in the workforce, thus helping to combat the labor shortage.
Stalking
The Council of States will tackle the motion to include ‘obsessive harassment’ — concretely, stalking — in the Criminal Code.
That’s because obsessive stalking, according to MPs, “restricts the freedom and individual lifestyle” of its victims. It can cause psychological, social, and economic harm.
However, the current legal framework is insufficient to punish obsessive stalking (especially if no other offense is committed).
Therefore, “it is necessary, on the one hand, to supplement the offences of threats and coercion in the special part of the Criminal Code and, on the other hand, to find solutions for the application of the law in cases of cyberstalking.”
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Ban on the use of extremist symbols
The deputies will also debate a proposed ban on the public use of extremist, racist, or violence-promoting symbols.
The reason is that current legislation “does not adequately consider the effects of certain symbols on third parties,” the MPs who submitted this motion argue.
“Tolerating these symbols amounts to tolerating the ideologies to which they relate. Their use must therefore be criminalised.”
Therefore, anyone who violates the ban and publicly will be punished; deputies will decide on the penalty.
Lower TV license fee
This is a compulsory fee (also referred to as ‘tax’) paid virtually all Swiss households, with proceeds used to fund public broadcasters and other TV and radio stations across Switzerland.
The current fee of 335 francs a year per household will drop to 312 francs by 2027, and then to 300 francs from 2029.
However, a referendum is calling for the fee to be lowered to 200 francs to relieve low-income people as well as those who don’t own a TV set.
During the spring session, MPs will weigh in on this proposal.
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Repression of foreign communities
According to the Federal Council, some communities repressed in their own countries and now living in Switzerland are being monitored and even intimidated by their governments.
“Members of these communities are therefore unable to fully enjoy the individual freedoms guaranteed by Switzerland, which constitutes an unacceptable interference in Swiss sovereignty,” the government said.
For this reason, it is necessary to immediately strengthen measures to protect these vulnerable communities living in Switzerland — an issue the MPs will debate in June.
