Salaries: SMEs facing the demand for clarity

For a long time, salary remained a topic that was discussed in hushed tones in Swiss companies. This discretion has not disappeared, but it is cracking. Employees compare more, candidates ask for benchmarks earlier in the recruitment process, and HR departments must justify decisions that, until recently, were mainly a matter of individual negotiation.

For an SME, salary transparency does not necessarily mean publishing everyone's payslip. However, it requires being able to explain why a position is remunerated at a certain level, what criteria influence remuneration changes, and how the company avoids unjustified discrepancies. It is an HR issue, but also a payroll, accounting, governance, and risk management issue.

Swiss salary discretion no longer erases the question of equity

The debate is fuelled by a figure that weighs in discussions: in Switzerland, the average salary gap between men and women reached 16.2% in 2022, according to data reported by HR Today. Nearly half of this gap, or 48.2%, is classified as unexplained. For employers, this data is not just a social indicator: it reminds them that remuneration systems must withstand internal, and even external, scrutiny.

The Swiss framework is based on a central principle: equal pay for work of equal value. The Federal Act on Gender Equality sets this requirement. Since 1 July 2020, companies with 100 employees or more must conduct a pay equity analysis every four years and have it verified by an independent body. The results must then be communicated to employees and, in certain situations, published.

Many SMEs do not reach this threshold. But it would be risky to conclude that the issue does not concern them. The practices of large companies often end up influencing the labour market, candidates' expectations, and the diligence standards of HR partners. A small structure may also face a challenge, a loss of internal trust, or recruitment difficulties if its salaries appear opaque or inconsistent.

Another culturally sensitive element: salary secrecy. According to elements recorded by salaire-suisse.ch, a contractual clause prohibiting an employee from discussing their salary is considered abusive and invalid. For managers, the message is clear: the answer is not to impose silence, but to prepare solid explanations.

European pressure is also entering Swiss discussions

Switzerland is not a member of the European Union, but European regulatory trends are closely followed by companies, especially those recruiting beyond borders or belonging to international groups. The European directive on salary transparency, adopted in 2023, requires companies with more than 100 employees to publish comparative salary data.

For a Swiss SME, the effect may be indirect but very concrete. A candidate used to more explicit announcements about salary ranges will more naturally ask the question. An employee informed about practices elsewhere will ask why the criteria for increases are not formalised. A company active with European clients, subsidiaries, or partners may also need to produce more structured information on its remuneration policy.

Salary transparency thus becomes a topic of HR competitiveness. In a market where certain profiles are difficult to attract, a company that can explain its salary policy, benefits, and career prospects can gain credibility. Conversely, a vague promise or a negotiation perceived as arbitrary can be costly: a candidate's withdrawal, the departure of a key employee, or tensions within a team.

Before opening the dialogue, ensure payroll data reliability

The first step is not communication, but inventory. Many discrepancies originate from the company's history: hiring in a shortage context, undocumented promotion, bonus granted occasionally then renewed, change in activity rate, role that evolved without updating the job description. Transparency highlights these situations.

For a fiduciary or payroll service, the task is to make the data comparable. It is not enough to look at a monthly amount. It is necessary to understand what makes up the remuneration: base salary, thirteenth salary if it exists in the company, bonuses, commissions, allowances, benefits, reimbursements, and variable elements. It is also necessary to consider the activity rate, the actual role, seniority, leadership responsibilities, level of autonomy, and required skills.

This levelling must remain cautious. A poorly constructed comparison can create false conclusions. Two people with a similar title may have different responsibilities. Conversely, two distinct titles may hide work of comparable value. This is precisely why a company benefits from documenting the criteria used, rather than relying solely on impressions or the history of negotiations.

On the accounting and budgetary level, the exercise has another virtue: it allows anticipating the cost of potential adjustments. Correcting a salary inconsistency may be necessary to preserve equity, but it must be integrated into financial planning. An SME must measure the effect on its payroll, social charges, margins, and prices. Transparency is not an exercise isolated from the income statement.

Managers must be able to explain, not improvise

Transparency rarely fails because of an Excel spreadsheet. It fails because the hierarchical line is not ready to answer questions. A team leader who explains a salary difference with vague formulas — performance, potential, market — without shared criteria risks fuelling frustration rather than trust.

SMEs therefore have an interest in defining a common language. Performance, for example, must be linked to objectives, responsibilities, and documented appraisal. Experience must be distinguished from pure seniority. The rarity of a profile in the market can be a factor, but it must be used consistently. As for increases, they should be based on a clear process: who decides, at what time, on what criteria, and with what budgetary leeway.

In practice, a few simple questions can test the robustness of the system:

• Are the roles described clearly enough to compare positions?
• Are the variable elements of the salary documented and understandable?
• Are the decisions on increases traceable from one year to the next?
• Do line managers know how to respond to a request for salary clarification?
• Can significant discrepancies be justified by objective professional criteria?

This work also protects the employer. A coherent salary policy does not eliminate all conflict, but it reduces the perceived arbitrariness. It also helps the fiduciary or HR provider advise management based on reliable data, rather than correcting sensitive situations in an emergency.

Gradual transparency is better than a big reveal

Between complete secrecy and the nominative publication of salaries, there are several levels. An SME can start by clarifying its remuneration principles, formalising internal ranges by job families, explaining the role of skills or performance, and then training managers in salary interviews. This progressive approach often better matches the Swiss business culture, where trust is built in stages.

Communication must be precise without promising more than the company can deliver. Saying that all remunerations will be reviewed according to identical criteria creates strong expectations. If the budget does not allow for quickly correcting all discrepancies, it must be stated and planned. Transparency does not require erasing all differences at once, but it makes the absence of method much more difficult.

For self-employed individuals employing a few staff, the same logic applies on a smaller scale. Even without an HR department, a written record of salary decisions, assigned responsibilities, and development criteria can prevent misunderstandings. When a company grows, these reflexes become valuable: what was manageable orally on a small scale quickly becomes fragile when teams are structured.

The role of the fiduciary is very concrete here. It can help align payroll data with operational reality, quantify different adjustment scenarios, verify the coherence between budget, contracts, salary certificates, and social charges, or prepare useful dashboards for management. It does not replace specific legal analysis when the situation requires it, but it provides the financial rigour essential to a credible salary policy.

Salary transparency is therefore not just an HR trend. It is a reflection of the quality of a company's management. SMEs that prepare for it early do not seek to expose everything: they ensure above all that their decisions can be explained, quantified, and assumed. In a labour market more attentive to equity, this capability becomes a management advantage as well as a tool for internal trust.