Salary transparency: what Directive 2023/970 changes in six countries

What the directive actually gives to employees

Directive (EU) 2023/970 will not allow an employee to view the payslip of a named colleague. Its article 7 grants the right to request their own pay level and the average pay levels, broken down by gender, of categories of workers performing the same work or work of equal value.

These are therefore group data, aggregated by job category and gender. The employer must respond within a reasonable time, at the latest two months after the request (art. 7, § 4). In practice, such requests increasingly go through a dedicated portal or form.

Two nuances deserve attention. On the one hand, the directive prohibits preventing an employee from disclosing their own remuneration (art. 7, § 5): confidentiality clauses regarding pay lose their effect. On the other hand, some providers offer more detailed individualised reports, but this is a minority feature on the market, not a legal requirement.

Obligations imposed on the employer

The transparency called for by the text is structural transparency (scales, averages, gaps), not individual payslip transparency. It translates into several concrete obligations:

• Before hiring (art. 5): the candidate must know the initial remuneration or the salary range of the position, either in the offer or before the interview. The employer can no longer ask about past salaries.
• In position (art. 7): each employee may request the average pay levels, broken down by gender, for their category of work of equal value.
• Reporting (art. 9): companies with at least 100 employees publish their gender pay gap. Member States may lower this threshold.
• Joint evaluation (art. 10): where a gap of at least 5% in a category of workers is neither justified by objective, non-sexist criteria, nor corrected within six months, the employer must conduct an assessment with employee representatives.
• Public procurement (art. 24): States may draw consequences from a breach in awarding public contracts. Poland and Italy foresee possible exclusion.

Reporting follows a staggered schedule set by the directive: from 7 June 2027 for companies with 150 employees or more (every year from 250 employees, every three years between 150 and 249), then from 7 June 2031 for those with 100 to 149 employees.

Six countries, six schedules

The deadline for transposition was set for 7 June 2026 (art. 34). Of the six countries where Fiabilis Consulting Group supports its clients, only one met it.

Italy: transposed

Legislative decree D.Lgs. 96/2026 has been in force since 7 June 2026. The first reporting is expected from 7 June 2027 for companies with at least 150 employees.

Poland: partial transposition

The recruitment aspect is already in force. The main law (bill UC127) is not adopted: adoption is targeted for Q4 2026, for probable entry into force early 2027.

Spain: in draft

A Real Decreto is under consultation. Spain already has a national framework active since 2020–2021 and maintains the European reporting schedule (2027, 2028, 2031).

France: in draft

A draft bill was presented to the Council of Ministers on 10 September 2026. Its adoption is likely in 2027, with progressive entry into force until 2028.

Belgium: delayed

The directive is not transposed at the federal level. The grace period requested from the European Commission was refused in May 2026, and no date is set for the private sector.

Germany: delayed

Germany has been in infringement since 8 June 2026 and had not notified any transposition measures by late August 2026. A text is expected after the parliamentary recess, with entry into force targeted at 1 January 2027.

What this implies for multi-country groups

For a company present in several of these countries, the schedule discrepancies do not change the essentials. Diagnosis and compliance work can start everywhere now, while reporting obligations will mainly kick in in 2027.

The preparatory tasks are the same from one country to another:

1. Map out positions and define categories of work of equal value, based on objective and non-sexist criteria (art. 4).
2. Measure pay gaps by category and identify those exceeding 5%.
3. Document objective justifications for observed disparities, or initiate their correction.
4. Organise the process for responding to employees' information requests and review job offers.

Unexplained gaps are the genuine point of concern: the directive does not make individual salaries public, but it exposes collective disparities to employees, their representatives, and, where applicable, the judge.

• Salary Transparency
• Directive 2023/970
• Equal Pay
• Reporting
• Transposition