Bonuses limited for public service bosses

Ruag boss Urs Breitmeier will have to do without so much bonus in future Keystone

The cabinet has spoken out against inflated bonuses for chiefs of public service companies and has vowed in future to cut variable salary to a maximum of 50% of base pay. In addition, other expenses will be capped to 10%.

The move comes in response to a failed people’s initiative earlier this year that accused public services, such as Swiss Post, of behaving too much like private enterprises. It called for bosses of services to receive no more pay than a government minister – CHF445,000 ($441,000), plus CHF30,000 expensesExternal link.

Despite advising voters to turn down the initiative (which they did on June 5), the government promised to address public concerns.

Ministers did so on Wednesday, ordering the restriction on bonses for the bosses of the post office, defence company Ruag, Swiss Federal Railways, air traffic controller Skyguide and other services. They ordered the companies’ statutes to be altered to include the new pay structures at no later than the 2018 annual general meetings.

The Swiss News Agency reported that Ruag boss Urs Breitmeier last year earned CHF460,000 in basic salary supplemented by a bonus of around CHF499,800 and CHF50,400 in expenses.