- Country: Switzerland
- Law status: Amended
- Law Type: Employment
Update: Switzerland voted in a referendum on 27 September 2020 which resulted in the approval of 10 days of paternity leave to begin in January 2021. We welcome the news and encourage the government to continue to review the issue and consider additional paid paternity leave so that all parents are treated equally.
Sex discrimination in economic status laws restricts women from being economically independent, limiting access to inheritance and property ownership as well as to employment opportunities, thereby reinforcing gender stereotypes and roles.
Unequal parental leave laws assume that the responsibility of childcare falls on women and may end up inhibiting women’s full economic participation.
The Law:
Switzerland’s Federal Law supplementing the Swiss Civil Code of 30 March 1911 provides that women are entitled to 14 weeks of paid maternity leave, but there was no requirement to provide paternity leave for men.
Article 329 (f). Obligations of the employer / VIII. Days off work, holidays, leave for youth work, maternity leave…. 4. Maternity leave: After having given birth, a female employee is entitled to maternity leave of at least 14 weeks.
Article 8 of the Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation: (3) Men and women have equal rights. The law shall ensure their equality, both in law and in practice, most particularly in the family, in education, and in the workplace. Men and women have the right to equal pay for work of equal value.