A recent report shows only 34% of young Swiss are concerned the jobs they take will eventually disappear compared to 79% in the US, 74% in Brazil and 76% in Singapore. © Sheng Zhang | Dreamstime.com The main worry is the impact of rapid technological change. Fear levels are mirrored in the response to another question: what kind of job would you like to have? Jobs in IT and tech are viewed as extremely attractive by the vast majority of young people in the US (75%) Brazil (72%) and Singapore...
Read More »Swiss study recommends 38 weeks of parental leave
A referendum calling for four weeks of paternity leave is currently working it’s way through the system. ©-Aleandr-_-Dreamstime.com_ - Click to enlarge This week, a government commission gave its verdict on the vote, recommending two weeks of paternity leave instead of the four set out in the referendum’s text. Their commission’s main concerns are centred on the impact on companies and the cost of funding it. A recent...
Read More »Swiss study recommends 38 weeks of parental leave
A referendum calling for four weeks of paternity leave is currently working it’s way through the system. © Aleandr | Dreamstime.com This week, a government commission gave its verdict on the vote, recommending two weeks of paternity leave instead of the four set out in the referendum’s text. Their commission’s main concerns are centred on the impact on companies and the cost of funding it. A recent Swiss study, which looked at literature published on the effects of parental, maternity and...
Read More »Switzerland’s parliament narrowly votes for women’s quotas on company boards
Yesterday, Switzerland’s National Council, or parliament, voted 95 to 94, with 3 abstentions, to introduce quotas for the management and boards of quoted companies. © Lovelyday12 | Dreamstime.com Boards will be required to have 30% women and management teams 20%. The rules could affect 250 companies. At the same time the quotas will not come with sanctions. Companies would have to explain why the quotas had not been met and set out plans to meet them in the future. Speaking to RTS, Simonetta...
Read More »Child care tax deductions set to rise in Switzerland
© Ekaterina Pokrovsky | Dreamstime.com Switzerland’s Federal Council, or cabinet, plans to increase the maximum annual deduction for child care costs to CHF 25,000 per child, up from CHF 12,100. This would allow parents to deduct up to this amount from their income for federal tax purposes but would not affect canton and commune taxes. Deductions could not exceed the amount spent. The plan aims to encourage more parents...
Read More »Child care tax deductions set to rise in Switzerland
Switzerland’s Federal Council, or cabinet, plans to increase the maximum annual deduction for child care costs to CHF 25,000 per child, up from CHF 12,100. © Ekaterina Pokrovsky | Dreamstime.com This would allow parents to deduct up to this amount from their income for federal tax purposes but would not affect canton and commune taxes. Deductions could not exceed the amount spent. The plan aims to encourage more parents to work, particularly highly qualified parents. Some parts of the Swiss...
Read More »Illegal workers cost Swiss social security 320 million, according to estimate
Many people employed in Swiss homes are undeclared. According to one estimate the amount of unpaid social security taxes on the total paid to these people could be as high as CHF 320 million a year. © Tomislav Pinter | Dreamstime Quitt.ch, a company that helps people with the administration around employing home help, reckons between 200,000 and 250,000 of the 400,000 people employed in homes in Switzerland are unregistered, a figure supported by a number of other studies. According to...
Read More »Swiss gender pay gap only 2 percent, says study
A report published by the head hunting firm Korn Ferry finds pay differences between men and women doing the same job are statistically insignificant. © Clementgreenberg | Dreamstime The report says that while it is true that, as a group, women get paid less than men, it is not because they receive less for the same work. It is because they don’t get the highest-paying jobs in the highest-paid industries. Korn Ferry’s number crunchers took pay data on more than 20 million employees across...
Read More »How much pocket money Swiss kids get varies hugely by linguistic region
A study requested by Credit Suisse and Pro Juventute shows how much pocket money habits vary across Switzerland. © Kirsty Begg | Dreamstime Of the 14,000 adults surveyed a clear majority said it was their job to teach their children how to deal with money. Parents in the lowest earning category (less than CHF 50,000 p.a.) placed greater emphasis on teaching their children than those it the highest income bracket of over CHF 200,000 p.a. The most important lessons Swiss parents focus on...
Read More »Men in Switzerland doing more around the house
The average number of hours spent on domestic tasks by men in Switzerland rose by 10% between 2010 and 2016 according to a report by Switzerland’s federal statistical office. © Masta4650 | Dreamstime The 17.9 hours dedicated to domestic work by an average man every week was 36% less than that of an average woman. Men however were not sitting around twiddling their thumbs. The 27.3 hours spent by men on paid work was 64% higher than the 16.6 hours women invested in paid work. After adding in...
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