In 2016, before the effects of taxes and welfare, the highest earning 20% of Swiss households made on average 40.8 times what an average household in the bottom 20 percent made, an inequality measure known as the S80/S20. However, after taxes and welfare, including low income support, health insurance subsidies, pensions and disability benefits, the […]
Million franc salaries cause friction in Bern
Switzerland’s government recently voted for a ceiling on the salaries of those managing public companies such as Swisscom, Swiss Post, Skyguide and Swiss Rail. In response, the board of Swiss Rail wrote to the Federal Council requesting it to soften its position. From 2020, the company wants to pay its nine senior managers CHF 5.89 […]
Facebook rejects most information requests from Swiss authorities
Over the first three months of 2018 Swiss authorities made 80 requests for Facebook user data, however two thirds of them were ignored, according to the newspaper SonntagsBlick as reported in 20 Minutes. When the requests were urgent the response rate rose to two thirds of requests. Reto Nause, who is responsible for security in […]
Swiss parliamentarians paid to lobby. But who is paying who?
A recently published study by the organisation Transparency International Switzerland shows the scale of lobbying in Swiss politics. Based on existing records, there are 2,000 relevant links between parliamentarians and outside interests with close to 1,700 organisations represented in parliament. An average member of Switzerland’s parliament has between seven and nine outside mandates. While the […]
Swiss clocks move forward one hour this Sunday
Early on Sunday 31 March 2019 – at 2am to be precise – Swiss clocks will move forward one hour. This means you will miss one hour of sleep and it will be darker when you get up. On the plus side, it will be lighter for longer in the evenings. Daylight savings likely to […]
Terrorists to be deported from Switzerland even if lives at risk
The Council of States, Switzerland’s upper house, voted 22 to 18 in favour of a parliamentary motion to deport terrorists even if their lives are at risk in their country of origin, according to RTS. Many on the left who were against the decision argued such a plan was against Switzerland’s constitution, the european convention […]
Switzerland’s parliament votes in favour of 1.3 billion franc payment to EU
Despite strong opposition from the Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP) on several points, a majority of Switzerland’s parliament voted in favour of a CHF 1.3 billion payment to the EU. The “solidarity payment”, destined to reduce european social and economic disparities and help cover some of the costs associated with migration, was accepted by a majority […]
Switzerland set to strip Swiss jihadists of nationality
So far Switzerland’s government has not stripped any jihadists of Swiss nationality. However, various reports suggest the government is set to do so. One case is currently being looked at, with others set to follow, according to Federal Councillor Karin Keller-Sutter who was questioned by parliament. The process starts by ensuring those involved have another […]
Switzerland tops OECD gender index
For the fourth year, the OECD has ranked 120 countries on their political commitments and laws aimed at eliminating gender discrimination. The percentage based scores measure the remaining discrimination, so the lower the score the better. Overall scores range from 8% in Switzerland, down to 64% in Yemen. Some countries had gaps in their data […]
Initiative launched to abolish ministers’ lifetime pensions in Geneva
Currently, anyone serving as at least eight years as a state minister for the canton receives a pension for life. The Liberal Green party recently launched an initiative to have this system abolished, something that has already happened in other Swiss cantons. Initiative organizers have until 8 July 2019 to collect the 5,227 signatures required […]
