Mind the gap: How are countries implementing the EU Pay Transparency Directive?

All EU member states have until 7 June 2026 to transpose the provisions of the EU Pay Transparency Directive into national law. With new rules on reporting, affected employers will be required to submit gender pay gap reports by 6 June 2027, based on 2026 data. With the clock ticking, employers operating in the EU need to take decisive action and prepare for the new rules. 

Senior international legal editor Rocio Carracedo Lopez examines what the new reporting and transparency requirements involve and discusses how different countries are implementing the new rules.

What rules are changing in the EU? 

Although the right to equal pay between women and men for equal work or work of equal value has been enshrine in EU law since the Treaty of Rome in 1957, current gender equality legislation has not addressed pay imbalances between men and women.       

The EU is hoping that the EU Pay Transparency Directive will address these issues by requiring organisations to:

• report information relating to the gender pay gap;
• carry out joint pay assessments where pay reporting reveals a gender pay gap of at least 5%;
• provide information about the initial pay level or its range in job adverts;
• make available the criteria that are used to determine pay levels and progression; and
• allow employees to ask for information on their individual and average pay levels, broken down by sex.

EU member states will need to put measures in place to prohibit any contractual terms that aim to restrict workers from revealing information about their pay.

If an employee brings a claim alleging a breach, the employer will bear the burden of proof. Employees who have suffered gender pay discrimination will be entitled to compensation, including back pay and related bonuses or payments in kind, and compensation for lost opportunities.

Further, EU member states will also be required to establish specific penalties for violations, including fines.

Do EU countries currently have legislation on pay reporting and transparency? 

While several countries have legislation that addresses some of the areas set out in the Directive, there is a lot of variation between them.

In Austria, organisations with more than 150 permanent employees are required to prepare an internal income report every two years. Similarly, in Italy, eligible employers must draw up an equality report every two years. In addition, Italian employers can obtain gender equality certification, which shows that the employer's policies and measures are aimed to reduce the gender gap in areas such as equal pay for equal tasks, policies for managing gender differences and maternity protection.

France and Portugal have taken a different approach. In France, all organisations with 50 or more employees must calculate their "index of occupational equality between women and men" and publish their score. If an organisation achieves a score of less than 85 points, it must set progress objectives in respect of each indicator for which it did not achieve a maximum score. If an organisation achieves a score of less than 75 points, it must negotiate with trade unions on adequate corrective measures.

In Portugal, all organisations are required to submit a single report, and organisations with 50 or more employees must also submit an annual gender equality report. The single report contains a broader overview of employment conditions, while the gender equality report specifically addresses gender-related issues. Further, organisations must create equality plans, which can cover aspects such as promoting transparency in wage setting and implementing initiatives to raise awareness about gender equality in the workplace.

In countries with existing pay transparency and reporting rules, national governments will need to assess all the new obligations and amend or supplement their existing laws or replace existing rules entirely to ensure compliance with the new rules.

Other countries, such as Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria, have no specific applicable regulations on gender pay reporting and will need to introduce brand-new measures.

What is the status of implementation in EU countries? 

At the time of writing, only five member states have taken steps to transpose the Directive into national legislation: Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden.

Which countries have implemented the EU Pay Transparency Directive?

What are the next steps? 

These proposals are just the beginning. In the Netherlands, the Bill is subject to consultation, which closed on 7 May 2025. Following the consultation, the Council of Ministers will decide whether to submit the legislative proposal to the House of Representatives, and if so, in what form. The Bill will need to be discussed in the House of Representatives and the Senate.

In Poland, the draft legislation does not fully implement all the provisions of the Directive, including the reporting requirements, and therefore further legislation will be needed. Similarly, in Ireland, the General Scheme of the Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024 includes provisions to partially transpose the Directive. A new Government took office on 23 January 2025 and has declared it will publish a Bill in due course. It is likely the new Government will seek to implement the whole Directive rather than following the limited approach taken by the previous Government.

In Belgium, recently introduced legislation only impacts employers subject to the jurisdiction of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles and further legislation to fully transpose the Directive at the national level is needed.

For other 22 countries that have not yet made any steps towards implementation, employers will need to keep on top of all developments and carefully study the draft legislation as it is released.

How can employers monitor developments? 

As this is an EU directive, it is up to each individual member state to determine how it interprets and implements the rules, or if it wishes to go further than the standards set out by the EU. Therefore there will be some variation in approach, which may make it challenging for multijurisdictional employers working in more than one EU member state to ensure compliance.

Our EU pay transparency directive implementation table tracks the implementation of the EU Pay Transparency Directive as member states adopt national legislation to meet its requirements.

What is the impact of the Directive on UK employers? 

As the UK is no longer an EU member state, there is no requirement to implement the Directive. However, a UK company that has more than 100 employees based in EU member states will need to comply with the legislation. Further, multinational employers may wish to adopt the same approach for all their employees across the region or align to EU standards. If so, they will need to ensure they understand how the Directive will affect employee rights.

Under the UK Government's Employment Rights Bill, there is a proposal for employers with 250 or more employees to publish action plans as part of their annual gender pay gap reports. Further, the Government has now opened a consultation seeking views on how to introduce mandatory ethnicity and disability pay reporting for large employers to help shape proposals in the upcoming Bill. It will be interesting to see whether the UK Government decides to make any changes in the future as their neighbours start legislating in this area.