Cross-border workers: 55.6% receive lower salaries than residents

Context

TL;DR

• 1.542 responses collected from female and male workers
• 55,6% feel they are paid less than a Swiss resident
• The research will be presented on 24 October in Varese
• 73,2% mainly use a car for commuting between home and work

Key facts

• Survey: «Working across the border: conditions, needs and prospects of cross-border workers»
• Responses: 1.542
• Promoters: CISL dei Laghi, CISL Sondrio, CISL Piemonte Orientale and OCST
• Scientific coordination: BiblioLavoro
• Presentation: October 24, Centro Congressi Ville Ponti di Varese
• Cross-border workers from Como: nearly 32 thousand
• Cross-border workers from Varese: 31 thousand

On October 24, the study will be presented at Centro Congressi Ville Ponti di Varese. The event brings to the forefront the conditions of those who cross the border every day.

Entitled «Working across the border: conditions, needs and prospects of cross-border workers», the survey is promoted by CISL dei Laghi, CISL Sondrio, CISL Piemonte Orientale and OCST, with the scientific coordination of BiblioLavoro. The survey collected responses from 1.542 female and male workers.

Pay is among the main reasons for choosing Switzerland; however, according to the source, salary must be considered together with purchasing power, pay disparities, time spent commuting and a welfare system deemed inadequate.

The salary comparison

The most prominent finding concerns pay: according to 55,6% of respondents, earnings are lower than those of a Swiss resident performing the same duties. This is the respondents’ assessment, referring to the same work activity indicated by the study, not a published salary figure.

Mapping the phenomenon

Geographical origin provides a measure of the phenomenon observed. Nearly 32 thousand cross-border workers leave the province of Como, accounting for 41% of Italians employed in Ticino; another 31 thousand leave Varese.

These figures place the survey within the daily relationship between Italian territory and work in Switzerland, without reducing it to the paycheck alone. The starting point is a broad snapshot: salary drives the choice, while perceived fairness, travel time and overall conditions complete the picture submitted for discussion in Varese.

Operational details

The percentages considered together

The percentages in the research take on meaning when the questions they answer are considered. 73% of respondents say they are satisfied with their salary, while for 48,4% their purchasing power has decreased in recent years. The first number expresses an assessment of salary; the second, a perceived change over time. The source does not allow this gap to be interpreted as a causal relationship.

A difference between groups

When compared with a Swiss resident who performs the same duties, 55,6% consider their earnings lower; among those without a collective agreement, the proportion reaches 63,4%. The two values differ arithmetically by 7,8 percentage points: the calculation shows the gap between the overall figure and the figure relating to a specific group in the research.

That calculation, however, does not prove that the lack of a collective agreement causes the perception of pay. The source does not analyze the reasons for the gap. Moreover, 42,7% report at least one treatment that, as cross-border workers, they perceived as discriminatory. The qualification «perceived» delimits the result: the respondents’ assessment is recorded, not a legal decision on the nature of the treatment.

The cost of time and remote work

The commute exceeds an hour and a half per day for nearly one worker in three. 73,2% travel mainly by car. The research presents the two figures without publishing a table cross-referencing travel duration with the means of transport used: it is therefore not possible to know how many motorists belong to the group with the longest journey.

Another comparison emerges regarding teleworking. It is permitted for cross-border workers by only 37,4% of companies, while it is promoted by 95,2% of those who use it. The arithmetic difference is 57,8 percentage points, but the bases do not coincide: the first value concerns companies, the second those who already use teleworking. It therefore does not represent a measure of unmet demand in the entire sample.

Key points

Welfare and the choice to remain across the border

The survey reports a clear result for the item referred to as “health tax”: 87,8% consider it disadvantageous. The expression in quotation marks is the one used in the source text. The same passage does not specify a technical name, an institution, an amount, or an insurance framework. The figure should therefore be presented as an assessment gathered by the survey, without turning the label into a technical definition of a tax or coverage.

76,9% of respondents rule out moving to Switzerland. According to the interpretation offered by the source, for the vast majority, cross-border work does not represent the start of emigration but a lasting choice. The percentage records a response to the survey: it does not document actual moves or explain the individual reasons for the choice.

Placing these two figures side by side does not make it possible to establish a cause-and-effect relationship between the assessment of the “health tax” and the decision not to move. They are two distinct findings from the same snapshot: one concerns an item considered disadvantageous, the other the prospect of moving to Switzerland.

The information limitations of the snapshot

The document does not publish salary amounts, wage differences expressed in francs, individual cases, or a legal classification of the arrangements reported by cross-border workers. Nor does it break welfare down into individual benefits. For this reason, the percentages describe conditions and perceptions, but do not replace a complete measurement of the pay packet or of the rules applicable to each worker.

For the sake of precision, the material provided does not address G permits, AVS, LPP, LAMal, tax rebates, withholding tax, or double taxation. The reference to Italians employed in Ticino is not developed in a standalone section on the Canton of Ticino. These areas therefore cannot be presented as findings of the survey. Its scope remains that indicated by the title: conditions, needs, and prospects of cross-border workers.

Source: varesenews.it