Fair employment practices and remuneration
In accordance with applicable national and international law and the conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Swiss Life Group adopts fair and non-discriminatory employment procedures with the aim of ensuring equal opportunity. This includes making hiring processes more objective in all the divisions and succession planning to consciously promote diversity. Some examples:
- At Swiss Life Switzerland, vacancies at all levels are systematically reviewed for part-time and top-sharing/job-sharing opportunities1 and are advertised accordingly. In addition, taking into account relevant key figures and the strategy for the next three years, potential employee risks and their causes are identified at an early stage. The results are incorporated into the annual HR planning processes and serve as the basis for operational measures. Swiss Life Switzerland aims to achieve a balanced portfolio (e.g. in terms of age, gender, full/part-time) within the context of human capital management and succession planning. Hiring is a series of multi-level procedures at Swiss Life managed by a range of stakeholders and additionally safeguarded by means of objectivity processes, such as online assessments. Finally, when recruiting staff, the topic of unconscious bias is also explicitly addressed with a structured approach in terms of content and process, based, amongst other things, on the diversity and inclusion norms that have been defined in a guidance document covering all aspects of diversity.
- The Swiss Life Asset Managers division participates in various programmes that make it easier for minority groups to enter the labour market: job shadowing for students with disabilities in Switzerland and internships under the 10 000 Black Interns programme in the United Kingdom. Finally, the training of recruitment specialists explicitly addresses the issue of unconscious bias in recruitment.
1 Division of full-time equivalents (job-sharing) and management positions (top-sharing) amongst several employees
Fair and equal compensation for all employees is ensured by the Group Compensation Policy, which is applicable throughout the Group. For a number of years, Swiss Life has had processes and instruments in place at all its national companies for closing the gender-specific salary gap. Some examples:
- Swiss Life Switzerland actively promotes equal pay for women and men and since 2010 has used the Logib software of the Federal Office for Gender Equality to review equal pay. This ensures that Swiss Life Switzerland regularly and systematically addresses the issue of equal pay.
- The occupational equality index at Swiss Life France, as defined in the “Avenir professionnel” law, has achieved a score of over 90 out of 100 points since 2020. Analysis of the results makes it possible to define and implement specific measures to continuously reduce the pay gap between women and men. Swiss Life Asset Managers’ equality index in France stood at 94 points in 2023 and 92 points out of 100 in 2024.
- In Germany, the Transparency in Wage Structures Act (EntGTranspG) applies; this prohibits unequal pay on the grounds of gender. Men and women must receive equal pay for equal work.
- Swiss Life International publishes a Gender Pay Report every year at its UK location containing average and median figures on salary and bonus differentials, figures on the proportion of employees receiving a bonus, and percentiles by gender.
- In all business units operating in the EU, Swiss Life is working to implement the EU Directive on Pay Transparency and create the corresponding transparency over compensation received by its employees.