Nearly 68% of the voters supported plans to give shareholders a veto on compensation and ban big payouts for new and departing managers.
Under the new measures, "golden handshake" deals will also be forbidden. Managers of companies who fail to comply face jail.
The Swiss proposals, which will need to be turned into law by parliament, received widespread support, with all of the country's 26 cantons [states] backing the plans.
"The people have decided to send a strong signal to boards, the federal council [Swiss Government] and the parliament," Thomas Minder, the businessman and Swiss senator behind the measure, told the state broadcaster RTS.
"This is a clear sign of the distance between the people and the political and business establishment," Minder told news agency Reuters.
The "fat cat initiative", as it has been called, will be written into the Swiss constitution and apply to all Swiss companies listed on Switzerland's stock exchange.
"It's a great advantage for investors," Minder added. "Instead of chasing companies away, such a law will entice investors to set up firms in Switzerland."
Chris Roebuck, professor of transformational leadership at Cass business school and former global director of talent at investment bank UBS, told HR magazine he belives these measures will be a "positive thing" if it encourages executives to "look in the mirror".
He said: "The Swiss people will express a lot of pleasure in the outcome of this referendum as they will see it as a victory against unacceptable behaviour.
"Too many senior executives have for a long time taken all the credit for sucessful businesses and are in it for themselves not the good of the company.
Roebuck doesn't believe this will be adopted by any other European country and said Switzerland will "stand alone" on this issue.
