Pay transparency — the tool that closes the gap

Directive 2023/970/EU was a response to an uncomfortable observation: for a decade the EU gap had been stuck at around 13% (according to Eurostat it stood at 11.1% in 2024). The initiative  — led by Commissioner Helena Dalli, rapporteur Evelyn Regner and Commissioner Nicolas Schmit — also emerged under pressure from women's organisations after the #MeToo wave.

Radical changes, a hard deadline

A duty to state pay ranges in job adverts; the worker's right to information about the median on comparable roles; pay-gap reporting (companies of 250+ annually, 100–249 every three years); a mandatory joint pay assessment where an unexplained gap exceeds 5%; plus the reversed burden of proof and compensation with no upper cap. Member States must transpose the directive by 7 June 2026.

Why transparency works

An analysis of Denmark's pay-disclosure law (Bennedsen, Simintzi, Tsoutsoura, Wolfenzon, 2022) found the gap fell by roughly one-eighth — mainly by slowing the growth of men's pay. A study of Canadian rules disclosing university salaries (Baker et al., 2023) likewise recorded a narrowing of the gap. Transparency weakens individual bargaining power and flattens unjustified pay dispersion.

The most interesting part is where  this is heading. Transparency exposes every difference that cannot be explained — not only gender. Brazil already requires reporting broken down by sex, race and origin, and the EU directive calls for looking at discrimination intersectionally. Polish data bear this out: in a study by Levelly.ai and the Experience Institute (N = 1,050, January 2026), 43% of  employees pointed to age discrimination — more than to sex. This is how a sixty-year journey comes full circle: from "the same work" to "work of equal value". The next stop is already in view.

Data and research:

• Directive 2023/970/EU (transposition by 7 June 2026).
• Eurostat — unadjusted EU gap: 11.1% (2024).
• Bennedsen, Simintzi, Tsoutsoura, Wolfenzon, Journal of Finance, 2022.
• Baker et al., American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2023.
• Levelly.ai / Experience Institute, N = 1,050, 2026 (43% citing age discrimination).

Transparency exposes every difference that cannot be explained. Check yours before someone else does. Measure your pay gap by role, build the documentation for the 5% threshold and enter the era of transparency prepared. Get your Tour Pass — offer valid only until 31.10.2026