Q1
Lower quartile
25% of employees with lowest pay. Tends to have a higher female proportion, indicating vertical segregation.
Report
% men vs % women
EU Directive 2023/970
Obligations of the Salary Transparency
All obligations European companies must meet before 7 June 2026. The directive goes far beyond existing national regulations.
Obligation 1
Calculate and publish the pay gap
What the directive requires
- Calculate the mean gender pay gap
- Calculate the median gender pay gap
- Include variable components: bonuses, commissions, benefits in kind
- Break down by equivalent professional categories
- Publish results periodically
Reporting frequency
- Companies with 250+ employees: annual report
- Companies with 150-249 employees: every 3 years (annual from 2031)
- Companies with 100-149 employees: every 3 years (from 2031)
- Companies with fewer than 100: basic transparency obligations
Obligation 2
Gender pay quartiles
Distribute the entire workforce into 4 quartiles by pay level and report the proportion of men and women in each.
Q2
Lower-middle quartile
Next 25% of employees. Unequal distribution here may reveal differences in supplements and bonuses between genders.
Report
% men vs % women
Q3
Upper-middle quartile
Next 25% of employees. The directive seeks to detect the glass ceiling by analysing where women stall on the pay scale.
Report
% men vs % women
Q4
Upper quartile
25% of employees with highest pay. Low female presence may indicate discrimination in management positions.
Report
% men vs % women
Obligation 3
Justify gaps exceeding 5%
Critical threshold
If the pay gap exceeds 5% in any professional category and cannot be justified by objective criteria, the company must act.
Joint assessment
Conduct a joint pay assessment with worker representatives to identify and correct differences.
Remediation plan
Implement a documented plan to close the gap within a reasonable timeframe. Include concrete measures and timeline.
Obligation 4
Transparency in job postings
From June 2026, all job postings must include salary information.
New recruitment rules
- Publish the salary range or starting salary in the posting
- Inform BEFORE the first interview
- Can be in the posting or communicated directly to the candidate
- Prohibited to ask the candidate about their current or previous salary
Employee right to information
- Any employee can request information about their pay level
- And about average levels, broken down by gender
- For categories of workers performing the same work or work of equal value
- The company must respond within a reasonable timeframe
Obligation 5
Reversed burden of proof
This is the most important change in the directive for companies.
Before: the employee had to prove
The worker had to provide evidence of pay discrimination. In practice, this was very difficult.
Now: the company must prove
If an employee alleges discrimination, the company must prove that there is NO gender pay discrimination. If it cannot prove this, discrimination is presumed.
Important
Differences with current national regulations
The EU directive goes far beyond existing national regulation. If you only comply with current law, you are NOT prepared.
Current national regulation
- Mandatory pay register
- Pay audit for companies with equality plan
- Basic job evaluation
- No obligation to publish results
- Burden of proof on the employee
EU Directive 2023/970 (new)
- Mandatory periodic reporting with gap data
- Gender pay quartiles
- Gap in variable components
- Mandatory justification if gap > 5%
- Mandatory salary in job postings
- Burden of proof on the COMPANY
- Prohibited to ask about previous salary
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