Swiss referendums, 2013

Eleven referendums were held at the national level in Switzerland during 2013. Voters approved six proposals related to spatial planning, executive pay, family policy, amendments to the laws on asylum and epidemics and an increase in the length of petrol station shop opening hours. The other five proposals on directly electing the Federal Council, abolishing compulsory military service, limiting salaries in a company to 12 times the lowest paid worker, tax credits for stay-at-home parents and an increase in road tax were rejected.

The first three national referendums in 2013 were held on 3 March, with voters asked whether they supported a federal order on family policy, an amendment to the federal law on spatial planning, and a popular initiative on executive pay that would introduce binding shareholder votes on salary levels, as well as banning golden hellos for new employees and golden parachutes for departing staff. The family policy question was approved by a majority of voters, but rejected by a majority of cantons. The planning question was approved by a majority of voters and did not require a cantonal majority. The executive pay initiative was approved by around two-thirds of voters and all cantons.

On 15 June 2012 a federal order was passed on family planning. It would make an amendment to the Swiss Constitution requiring the federal government to work with cantonal governments to promote work–life balance and improve the provision of day care, as well as ensuring the needs of families are considered in government policies.

On 15 June 2012 an amendment to the federal law on spatial planning was passed, which limited the amount of land available to communities for development purposes to that equivalent needed for the next fifteen years. It also introduced a 20% tax rate on land transactions for owners of land for development.

The proposals were conceived by Thomas Minder, who launched a campaign in 2008 following significant losses at UBS, which were blamed on a bonus culture leading to excessive risk-taking by managers. They would amend legislation to:

Polls in January 2013 suggested that a majority was in favour of the proposals, although they were opposed by the Economiesuisse business lobby and the Swiss government. Supporters of the initiative spent 200,000 Swiss Francs, while opponents spent 8 million Swiss Francs in their campaign to block reform.

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