Pay transparency: 2026 obligations and the EU directive

1. Why is pay transparency becoming essential now?

Pay has long been a taboo in French corporate culture. This institutional silence comes at a cost: thepay gap between women and men still stands at around 12% on average in the European Union, according to Eurostat data from 2023. This gap reaches far beyond the payslip: it widens the gap in retirement pensions, estimated at 26,1 % within the EU.

In response, the European Union decided to take action by adopting Directive (EU) 2023/970 of 10 May 2023, which requires business leaders to lift the veil on their pay policies. This directive is not merely a declaratory text: it has a direct impact on your recruitment processes, your internal salary management and the way you engage with your employees and their representatives. The aim is to strengthen the application of the principle of “equal pay for equal work” and to achieve a lasting reduction in the pay gap between women and men.

⚠️ 2026 update: The EU pay transparency directive (2023/970) must be transposed into French law by June 2026. However, to date, the exact implementing rules are still being defined. The practical implementation of the obligations is expected to be gradual from 2026 onwards and spread out over time.

This development also meets growing expectations among employees. According to a study by APEC (the French association for executive employment), 6 in 10 French managers say they are in favour of greater pay transparency in companies. Yet nearly one employee in two still feels that their company remains opaque about how pay is set or how it evolves. This demand for clarity reflects a broader need: understanding the criteria that determine salaries, pay rises and promotions.

💡 Key takeaway
In short, pay transparency is no longer optional. The EU directive must be transposed into French law by 7 June 2026 at the latest and will introduce new obligations for recruiters. Certain rights of access to pay information will apply to companies with 50 or more employees, while the obligations relating to reporting on pay gaps will mainly target companies withat least 100 employees. 

1.1 What is pay transparency?

2. What does the EU directive provide for and require?

The 2023/970 directive goes far beyond a simple reporting obligation. It rests on four fundamental pillars that cover the entire employee life cycle, from recruitment to the end of the contract.

2.1 Transparency from recruitment onwards

From the publication of a job advert or before the first interview, the employer will have to disclose the starting pay or a salary range for the position. It will also be forbidden to ask a candidate about their pay history, a common practice that perpetuates inequalities. Candidates must be able to negotiate with full knowledge of the facts. Candidates will also be able to request information on the applicable pay provisions of the collective agreement (convention collective) or company agreements.

This measure aims in particular to correct an imbalance observed in salary negotiations. Parliamentary work shows that women are statistically disadvantaged during salary negotiations at hiring, particularly when pay information is not transparent. The obligation to display a pay range is therefore intended to rebalance this stage of recruitment.

2.2 Internal transparency

Employees will have the right to request and obtain information on their individual pay level and on average pay levels by sex and by category of position. The employer will have to make available to them the objective criteria used to determine pay, its progression and its variable components. The information provided therefore concerns average pay levels or ranges by category of position, not the individual salaries of colleagues.

2.3 Mandatory pay reporting

The companies concerned will have to produce periodic reports on pay gaps between women and men. Where a gap of 5% or more is found between categories of workers performing work of equal value, the employer will have to justify it on the basis of objective criteria or remedy the situation. To analyse these gaps, the directive requires companies to rely on a job classification that allows the value of jobs to be assessed objectively.

The directive also introduces the notion of work of equal value. This means that organisations will need to be able to compare and justify pay between different positions that are of equivalent value to the organisation. This assessment will have to be based on objective criteria such as the skills required, responsibilities, working conditions or the impact of the position within the company.

2.4 A reversal of the burden of proof

This is one of the most far-reaching changes: in the event of a dispute over pay discrimination, it will no longer be up to the employee to prove that they are the victim of unequal treatment. It will now be up to the employer to demonstrate that they do comply with the principle of equality. The penalties provided for are effective, proportionate and dissuasive, and may include fines calculated in proportion to the wage bill.

⚠️ Major legal innovation
For the first time, the directive introduces the notion of intersectional discrimination, combining several criteria such as gender and ethnic origin. This definition will have to be incorporated into French law upon transposition.

3. Compliance timeline: who must do what, and when?

The directive sets out a phased timeline according to company size. Here are the deadlines to add to your HR calendar, taking into account the latest French legislative developments.

⚠️ Please note: the transposition of the directive into French law has been delayed due to the parliamentary calendar. The precise implementing rules are therefore still being defined at this stage.

What the directive requires from 50 employees

4. The strategic stakes for your company

4.1 An employer brand and attractiveness issue

Pay transparency is changing the candidate-employer relationship for good. Companies that publish clear salary ranges in their job adverts generally see a better application conversion rate and shorter negotiation processes. In a tight job market, displaying a fair pay policy becomes a lever for attracting talent as much as a legal obligation. Recent studies show that pay clarity is still not widespread in French companies.

According toAPEC, only 46% of companies systematically publish salary scales in their job adverts and 66% do not provide access to salary scales internally. In addition, nearly three quarters of organisations admit that they have not yet started to prepare in practical terms for the EU directive.

4.2 A retention and workplace climate issue

Unexplained pay inequalities fuel a sense of injustice and demotivation. By structuring a transparent and defensible pay policy, companies strengthen their teams' trust and reduce the risk of industrial disputes. An employee who understands the criteria for the progression of their pay is a more engaged employee.

4.3 A compliance and legal risk issue

With the reversal of the burden of proof, the risk of litigation increases significantly. In the event of a dispute, the employer will have to be able to demonstrate that the pay gaps observed are based on objective, transparent and non-discriminatory criteria. A company that is unable to document, justify and audit its pay policies exposes itself to lengthy and costly litigation, as well as to fines proportional to its wage bill.

✅ Good practice
Use your preparation for the directive to audit your existing salary scales . A clear job classification and formalised pay criteria will allow you to justify your decisions and identify the gaps to correct before they become risks.

5. How your ATS and HRIS become your best allies

Compliance with Directive 2023/970 is not a one-off project: it is a permanent operational change. It affects two major functional areas that your HR tools must cover in a coordinated way.

5.1 The ATS (Applicant Tracking System) at the heart of transparent recruitment

The principle of transparency in pay practices begins with the very first interaction with a candidate.

An ATS should make it possible to:

• Structure salary ranges by job description, with values automatically carried over into the adverts published on all channels (job boards, careers site, job multiposting).
• Block “current salary” fields in application forms, to comply with the ban on asking candidates about their pay history.
• Keep a traceable archive of the pay information disclosed to each candidate, in case of a subsequent inspection or dispute.
• Generate reports on published adverts and the pay offered, to ensure consistency between salary scales and actual recruitment practices.

5.2 The HRIS for reporting and ongoing compliance

This is the core engine for meeting the regulatory reporting requirements of the directive.

An HRIS suited to pay transparency should offer:

• Automatic gap calculation: real-time calculation of thegender pay gap by category of position, with alerts when the 5% threshold is crossed.
• Access rights management: fine-grained configuration of access rights to pay data, defining what an employee, a manager, an employee representative or an auditor can see.
• Regulatory reports: automated generation of annual or three-yearly reports that comply with the requirements of the directive and of the revampedGender Equality Index .
• Connection to salary scales: a job repository connected to the ATS salary ranges to ensure consistency between recruitment, pay policy and HR data.

ATS-HRIS integration: the key to frictionless compliance
The real added value lies in the native integration between these two building blocks. An advert created in the ATS with a salary range should automatically feed the HRIS repository. A completed hire should create an employee record with correctly structured pay policy data. Without this continuity, you multiply re-entries, errors and discrepancies between what is promised at recruitment and what is managed internally, a source of unfairness that runs exactly counter to the spirit of the directive.

6. How to prepare in practice

Compliance is not a last-minute sprint. Here is a roadmap you can start right now, whatever your current level of maturity.

7. Conclusion

The move towards pay transparency, driven by the European legislation, represents far more than an additional regulatory constraint. It also marks a shift in recruitment and pay management practices, by requiring greater transparency from hiring onwards and throughout the employment relationship. It also meets a strong expectation from employees and candidates who want to understand more clearly how salaries and career progression are determined.

Organisations that approach this deadline as an opportunity to strengthen their employer brand, retain their talent and modernise their HR tools will come out stronger. Those that wait until the last minute will have to handle technical compliance, the pay adjustments to be made and a potentially tense social dialogue all at once.

The good news? Solutions exist to make this transformation operationally smooth. An integrated, well-configured ATS, CRM and HRIS allow you to meet the requirements of the legislation without overloading your teams. The question is not “whether” you need to prepare, but “when you start”.

Ready to prepare your pay compliance?

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