2013 Swiss referendums

March referendums

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.

Proposals

Family policy

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.

Planning

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.

Executive pay

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:

• require an annual vote by shareholders for the president and other members of the management board of directors, members of the remuneration committee, and any advisory board and executive officers of the organisation.
• require the articles of association to include bonus schemes and pay plans for directors and executive officers, any loans granted to such employees, the number of mandates outside the organisation, and the duration of employment contracts of executive officers.
• ban advance and severance packages.
• ban corporate proxy and the representation of shareholders by depository banks.
• require pension funds to disclose the way it votes, and to vote in the interests of pension policyholders.

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.

Electoral system

Eleven cantons allowed overseas voters to vote online after the Federal Council approved the method in December 2012.

Results