The Canton of Zürich said that it has again found no evidence of systematic wage discrimination between men and women in its cantonal administration, with an unexplained gender pay gap of just 0.9%. Apparently, this level is well below both the legal tolerance threshold of 5% set under federal equal pay law and a stricter internal target.
It also falls short of the stricter internal target of 2.5% that the canton applies to its own salary policy.
Importantly, this result holds not only at the aggregate level. Each individual directorate and the State Chancellery, assessed separately, also fall within the target range. No unit of the cantonal administration was found to breach either threshold.
Switzerland’s Revised Gender Equality Act (GEA) Came Into Force In 2020
The findings come from the canton’s latest voluntary salary review, conducted using the federal government’s Logib analytical tool. The review examined the salary structure of all cantonal directorates, the State Chancellery, and the district administrations as of 31 December 2024.
Logib is a standardised salary analysis model developed by the Confederation to help employers identify and quantify unexplained pay differences between male and female employees.
Crucially, it does not simply compare average salaries, it controls for a range of factors that legitimately influence pay, including length of service, years of education, potential work experience, professional position and competence level.
The remaining gap, the portion that cannot be explained by these objective factors, is the figure used to assess whether discrimination may be present.
Confirms 2021 Findings On Systematic Gender Pay Gap
The latest study replicates the outcome of the canton’s previous Logib review, conducted in 2021, when the cantonal government was fulfilling a legal mandate from the federal government requiring employers above a certain size to carry out a formal equal pay analysis. The current review is described as voluntary, indicating that Zürich has continued the practice beyond its statutory obligation.
The cantonal government has taken formal note of the report and confirmed that equal pay between the sexes is being clearly adhered to in accordance with the Logib model.
The Logib tool, maintained by the Federal Office for Gender Equality (FOGE), is the most widely used instrument for this purpose in Switzerland. An unexplained pay gap below 5 percent is considered acceptable under the legal framework; gaps above that threshold are treated as a potential indicator of systemic discrimination requiring remedial action.
Read More: Zürich and Winterthur To Introduce Minimum Wage After Supreme Court Ruling
