For years, pay was treated as a private matter in much of the EU, almost something improper to mention too directly. That culture is now under serious pressure. Under Directive (EU) 2023/970, which member states were required to transpose by 7 June 2026, job applicants must be told the initial pay or pay range before the interview or in the vacancy notice, and employers are no longer allowed to ask about an applicant’s current or previous pay history. Vacancy notices and recruitment processes must also be gender-neutral. The European Commission said on 5 June 2026 that these rules are now taking effect across the EU, at a moment when the EU gender pay gap still stands at 11.1%. (commission.europa.eu)
The more profound shift may happen after hiring. Workers have the right to request, in writing, information about their own pay level and the average pay levels, broken down by sex, for people doing the same work or work of equal value. Employers must also make the criteria for pay, pay levels, and pay progression accessible, and those criteria must be objective and gender-neutral. The directive explicitly notes that pay progression may be linked to factors such as individual performance, skills development, and seniority. This is likely to change performance evaluation from a murky managerial ritual into something far more explainable and, if necessary, contestable. (eur-lex.europa.eu)
Still, this is not a demand to publish everyone’s exact paycheck. The directive includes data-protection safeguards, and if disclosure could identify an individual worker, member states may restrict detailed access to worker representatives, labour inspectorates, or equality bodies. But the enforcement mechanisms are sharp. Employers with 250 or more workers must begin reporting pay-gap data by 7 June 2027 every year; those with 150 to 249 workers also start by 7 June 2027 but report every three years, while the 100 to 149 group begins by 7 June 2031. If reporting uncovers an unjustified gender pay gap of at least 5%, a joint pay assessment is required, and workers harmed by pay discrimination must have access to full compensation. So pay secrecy in the EU is not vanishing overnight; rather, it is being cornered by a legal system that makes opacity much harder to defend. (eur-lex.europa.eu)










