Swiss firms urged to do more to combat sexual harassment

Companies urged to do more to combat sexual harassment Keystone-SDA

Swiss firms must take steps to combat sexual harassment, according to the Swiss Trade Union Confederation.

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Nearly 60% of female employees have already experienced sexist behaviour or sexual harassment in the course of their working lives, the union said.

A feminist congress, which opened in Bern on Friday, heard that labour inspectors should “finally” systematically check whether the law is being complied with. It also called for sexual harassment to be recognised as a cause of occupational illness.

From a legal point of view, the situation is clear: sexual harassment in an employment relationship constitutes an attack on personality and health, as well as a particular form of discrimination “based on sex”, as defined in Article 4 of the Federal Law on Equality.

Employers therefore have an obligation to protect their employees against all forms of discrimination, harassment and violence in the workplace. Participants at the conference backed up their demands with collective and visual action under the slogan “Zero tolerance of harassment”.

External controls

According to the union, one company in five has no prevention and intervention measures in place. External checks by the labour inspectorate or vocational training authorities are also largely lacking.

Participants at the congress demanded that parliament ratify Convention 190 of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on violence and harassment in the workplace. The two chambers of parliament had referred the project back to the Federal Council in 2023, initially requesting a consultation procedure on the subject.

The government followed up last April, opening a consultation procedure that ended on August 20. In its view, ratification is “in line with Switzerland’s foreign and economic policy”.

The 15th Trade Union Confederation Feminist Congress runs until Saturday. It brings together women and transgender, intersex, non-binary and agender people who are members of different federations of the trade union umbrella organisation.

For two days, participants will be discussing progress and challenges in the field of equality at work. This year’s focus will be on sexual harassment, occupational health and the pay gap between women and men.

Translated from French by DeepL/mga

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