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That’s what it’s about
Parents must be entitled to two weeks of vacation when a child is born. These two weeks can be taken in one piece or daily for the first six months after birth. The replacement salary is 80 per cent of the average salary before the birth, but not more than 196 francs per day, as is the case with maternity leave. According to federal estimates, the costs of the income compensation plan are 230 million francs per year, which corresponds to 0.05 per cent of salary.
That’s what the proponents say
SP, Verdes, CVP, Verdes Librales and BDP support the proposal. The push originally came from the Travailsuisse union and other (employee) associations, which launched a popular initiative for four weeks of paternity leave in 2017. The initiative was withdrawn two weeks after Parliament voted in favor of the compromise. Proponents consider that the legally regulated paternity leave in Switzerland is expired, neighboring countries have had it for a long time. Also, the equality argument counts for them: like mothers, fathers should be able to take time for their newborn children without having to take a vacation.
That’s what the opponents say
The SVP is against it, but a minority of eleven national councilors voted in favor. The FDP parliamentary group supported the proposal by a large majority in parliament, but a few weeks before the vote, the party approved the no-slogan with a narrow decision from the delegates. The strongest resistance comes from the SVP, but the party decided not to hold a referendum. The national councilor Diana Gutjahr (SVP, TG) and the councilor of Zurich Susanne Brunner (SVP) together with representatives of the young parties of the SVP and FDP have seized it. Many businessmen and politicians from the SVP, FDP and CVP support the referendum.
