In a year, there will be no more pay gap between female and male employees with impunity

A year later, on 1 June 2026, the EU’s Equal Pay Directive, which aims to reduce the gender pay gap and increase pay transparency in member states, will enter into force.

“The directive applies to all employers with at least 100 employees. It requires employers to make their pay structures more transparent and ensure that employees have access to pay data,” said Nóra Óváry-Papp, senior lawyer at Baker McKenzie.

“Companies should start preparing for the directive. Compliance requires significant financial and human resources, for which it is advisable to use professional help,”

added Nóra Zsuzsanna Kovács, a lawyer at Baker McKenzie.

The directive prescribes a number of measures to increase the transparency of pay. Among other things, it grants job seekers the right to pay transparency: employers must provide the starting salary level or its range in the job advertisement or before the job interview – but this does not mean that employers can ask prospective employees for previous salary data. Employees will have the right to request information from their employer on their individual salary level and the average salary level of employees performing the same or equivalent work, broken down by gender.

Employers employing at least 100 people must publish the pay gap between female and male employees, with different frequencies depending on the number of employees – Over 250 people annually, and under 250 every three years. If the company has a gender pay gap of at least 5 percent and it cannot be justified by objective, gender-neutral factors, employers must conduct a pay survey in cooperation with employee representatives.