EU Pay
Transparency:
What Changes?
Who is covered, how is the pay gap calculated, and what is due when?
DIRECTIVE (EU) 2023/970 ↗
How do you explain your pay decisions? Directive (EU) 2023/970 strengthens equal pay for women and men doing equal work or work of equal value through information rights, reporting and enforcement.
See the timelineThe aim is to make clear how pay is determined and what explains differences between women and men.
Applicants receive information about starting pay. Employees can access pay criteria and comparison data. Employers subject to reporting measure and explain gaps, and remedy unjustified differences.
The value of work is the basis for comparison. Equal value is assessed using objective, gender-neutral criteria such as skills, effort, responsibility and working conditions. A shared job title alone is not enough.
Broad coverage.
Phased reporting.
The directive covers public and private employers in EU Member States, and employees with an employment contract or relationship under national law and practice. Its recruitment provisions also cover applicants.
Art. 2The 100-employee threshold concerns periodic reporting. It does not define the overall scope of the directive.
Information In Recruitment
Applicants receive initial pay or a range, and any applicable collective-agreement provisions, in a way that enables informed pay negotiations. Examples include the vacancy notice or before the interview. Employers cannot ask about current or previous pay history.
Art. 5Employees’ Information Rights
Employees can request written information about their own pay and the averages for women and men in their equal-work or equal-value category. A response is due within two months; the right must be communicated annually.
Art. 7Accessible Pay Criteria
Criteria for pay, pay levels and pay progression must be accessible, objective and gender neutral. Countries may exempt employers with fewer than 50 employees only from the obligation to make pay-progression criteria accessible.
Art. 6Consistent scope.
A clear formula.
Pay includes basic pay and complementary or variable payments, whether in cash or in kind. The directive defines pay level as gross annual pay and the corresponding gross hourly pay.
Art. 3, 9Keep the employer, period, pay components and unit consistent. Calculate each group’s mean by adding individual pay levels expressed on the same basis and dividing by the number of employees.
A positive gap means women’s average is lower; a negative gap means it is higher. For the median gap, replace the means with medians in the same formula. A zero male reference makes the ratio undefined.
Women’s average pay is 10% below men’s average.
An organisation-wide unadjusted gap also reflects the distribution of women and men across jobs and levels. It is not, by itself, a finding of discrimination or a universal pay-rise percentage; equal-work and equal-value categories need separate review.
The 7 Reporting Measures
- a
Mean gender pay gap in total pay
- b
Mean gap in complementary or variable components
- c
Median gender pay gap in total pay
- d
Median gap in complementary or variable components
- e
Proportions of women and men receiving complementary or variable pay
- f
Proportions of women and men in each of the four pay quartiles
- g
Pay gap by employee category, with basic pay and complementary/variable components shown separately
Pay quartiles are four equal groups of employees ranked from lowest to highest pay; they are not calendar quarters.
Management confirms accuracy after consulting employees’ representatives. Category information is provided to employees and their representatives. Personal data must be protected.
Art. 3, 9, 12Which employer,
which deadline?
These are the directive’s minimum reporting requirements. Member States may introduce wider obligations.
Art. 9, 34National Transposition Deadline
The deadline for Member States to transpose the directive has passed. It does not establish that every country completed transposition, or that employer reporting began on that date.
7 June 2027
Every year
7 June 2027
Every three years
7 June 2031
Every three years
Fewer than 100 employees: no mandatory periodic reporting under the EU minimum framework; national law may require it.
Each report covers the previous calendar year. Reporting every three years does not mean reporting a three-year average.
Three conditions.
A joint assessment.
For employers subject to reporting, a joint pay assessment with employees’ representatives is required when all three conditions below are met.
Art. 10A Gap Within A Category
At least a 5% difference in the average pay levels of women and men in any equal-work or equal-value category.
No Objective Justification
The employer has not justified the difference using objective, gender-neutral criteria.
Unresolved After Six Months
The unjustified difference has not been remedied within six months of submitting the pay report.
5% is not an allowance for discrimination. Smaller unjustified differences must also be addressed under the equal-pay principle.
- Build equal-work and equal-value categories using objective criteria.
- Validate pay data, its components and the reporting period.
- Review gaps; document explanations and remedial action.
Transparency starts
with understanding
the value of work.
Job evaluation provides a foundation for meaningful pay comparisons. Information rights, sound data and action on unjustified gaps complete that foundation.
Explore EMEQDirective of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 May 2023. This article draws on: scope, Art. 2; definitions and job value, Arts. 3–4; information rights, Arts. 5–7; reporting, Art. 9; joint assessment, Art. 10; data protection, Art. 12; transposition, Art. 34.
This article presents the EU minimum framework. Country-specific implementation, submission formats and additional duties need to be checked against national law. Editorial review: 25 October 2026.