Briefings

With equal pay in the spotlight in Germany as it continues to work towards its transposition of the EU Pay Transparency Directive, it is anticipated that the current litigation landscape on this topic will continue to gather pace.

This briefing outlines the latest Federal Labour Court (BAG) decision around gender-specific discrimination, and highlights the potential wider impact of the decision and provides a summary of what employers in the EU should be doing now to prepare for the implementation of the EU Pay Transparency Directive.

Northern Ireland is at an important stage in legislating for gender pay gap transparency. The Department for Communities (DfC) is progressing with legislative changes to introduce gender pay gap reporting requirements in Northern Ireland. While the enabling legislation allowing the DfC to establish regulations for pay gap reporting was enacted nearly a decade ago, such regulations have experienced significant delays. Following a consultation, the process of enacting these provisions is now advancing.

Although the EU Pay Transparency Directive has not yet been transposed in Belgium, at regional level, a decree (amending an existing decree on combating certain forms of discrimination) applicable to employers within the public sector of the French Community in Belgium, has made changes that aligns the current legislative framework with some elements of the Pay Transparency Directive. So far, such changes at regional level have only affected employers falling within its narrow scope (i.e. the public sector of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles).

With a lull in Directive local implementation activities over the summer, employers can expect a sharp uptick in developments in the coming months, with the window towards the 7 June 2026 transposition deadline now closing fast. Planning for compliance with the Directive will typically be a cross-functional responsibility, including legal, HR, compensation, payroll and pay equity teams. Forming a working group early and identifying areas that may require external support will be essential.

The public consultation on the Dutch legislative proposal implementing the Directive officially closed on 7 May 2025. The Dutch legislator is currently reviewing and analyzing the submitted responses. The aim is to finalize and adopt the legislation by June 2026, ensuring timely transposition of the Directive into national law and providing employers and employees with a clear legal framework for promoting equal pay between men and women.

As the significance of the obligations established under the Pay Transparency Directive (“Directive”) start to be appreciated by companies with operations in the EU, many are putting into place measures to identify the steps they will need to take, including how to address any pay disparities or information gaps, and how to establish effective processes to ensure future compliance and minimise legal and reputational risk. In this briefing, we look at some of the practical issues beginning to emerge.

The EU Pay Transparency Directive came into effect on 6 June 2023 and Ireland has three years to transpose it into domestic law with reporting requirements commencing in 2027.

The EU Pay Transparency Directive (the Directive) is in force and EU Member States have until June 2026 to transpose it into national laws. All employers who employ people in EU Member States, regardless of their size or sector, will need to comply with the Directive once it is implemented locally.

A new EU Directive aimed at ‘strengthening the application of the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value between men and women through pay transparency and enforcement mechanisms’ (“EU Directive”) has been finally adopted through the EU’s legislative procedure.

After a process spanning over three years, the EU Directive on strengthening the application of the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value between men and women through pay transparency and enforcement mechanisms (“Pay Transparency Directive”) has been formally adopted by the EU Council on 24 April 2023.

Pay transparency planning will take on a new urgency for many companies during 2025. In accordance with the EU Pay Transparency Directive, employers with 150 workers or more must report prescribed information on their gender pay gap by 7 June 2027.