On 14 December 2018, Parliament adopted an amendment to the Equality Act. According to this amendment, companies with 100 or more employees (full-time positions without apprentices) are obliged to carry out a wage equality analysis.

These amendments will come into force on 1 July 2020. The first in-house analysis must therefore be carried out by the companies concerned by the end of June 2021 at the latest. But even if your company has less than 100 employees, you could still be affected by the issue of equal pay. If, for example, you wish to take part in a tender for public contracts in the canton of Basel-Stadt, you must submit a self-declaration and proof of equal pay together with your tender from 2021 onwards. This rule applies to all companies regardless of the number of employees.

Parliament has stipulated that the wage equality analysis must be carried out every 4 years. However, if the 1st analysis shows that the equal pay principle has been complied with, no further analysis is required and employers are released from the obligation to carry out the analysis. Employees must be informed in writing of the results of the wage equality analysis. Companies whose shares are listed on the stock exchange must disclose the results of the analyses in the notes to their annual financial statements.

Companies must have the wage equality analysis reviewed by an independent body. This review can be carried out by, among others, audit companies licensed under the Audit Supervision Act. The auditors entered in the Commercial Register may carry out this review, but this is done as a separate mandate outside the audit mandate. The auditor in charge of the mandate must complete a specialist training course in this area in advance and on a one-off basis.

As an auditing expert according to RAG, we have the required license. Our responsible employees have attended appropriate further training events so that we can carry out the necessary audits if required.

We will be happy to answer any questions you may have, either as consultants and/or as auditors.