Pay Transparency: New Obligations Employers Should Prepare For

The European Directive 2023/970 aims to strengthen equal pay for women and men for the same work or work of equal value. It introduces several transparency measures that will have an impact on companies’ recruitment practices and remuneration policies.

The deadline set at European level for transposing the directive was 7 June 2026. However, its implementation in Belgium must be assessed in light of the legislation actually adopted and the relevant scope of application.

What changes are envisaged?

The directive provides for several changes in the relationship between employers and employees.

During the recruitment process, candidates must be able to obtain information about the initial salary or the salary range предусмотрed for the position. Employers may not ask candidates about their current or previous salary.

During employment, employees must be able to access the criteria used to determine remuneration and salary progression. These criteria must be objective and gender-neutral.

Employees are also entitled to information about their individual pay level and the average pay levels, broken down by gender, for categories of employees performing the same work or work of equal value.

What are the implications for SMEs?

Pay transparency requires employers to be able to justify differences in remuneration based on objective criteria, such as skills, responsibilities, effort required, working conditions or relevant experience.

Companies therefore have an interest in gradually formalising their existing practices. This includes job classification, salary-setting criteria, pay increase policies and the justification of any pay differences.

This approach can also help prevent disputes and improve the consistency of the company’s remuneration policy.

What should you do now?

It is advisable to check whether remuneration is based on clear and consistent criteria, review job advertisements and recruitment procedures, and prepare documentation that enables the company to explain salary differences.

However, it is important to distinguish between the obligations laid down in the European directive and those that are directly applicable to each employer in Belgium. Before concluding that a specific obligation applies, the national transposition measures and any rules specific to the relevant sector or entity should be verified.