What does a joint pay evaluation entail?

A joint evaluation follows an unexplained pay gap of 5 percent

A joint pay evaluation is an investigation conducted by an employer together with worker representatives when the pay gap report reveals a difference between men and women of at least 5 percent in a category of workers performing equal or equivalent work, that difference cannot be objectively justified, and has not been remedied within six months of the report. The evaluation maps the size of the difference, why it exists, and what measures are needed to eliminate it; worker representatives assess it jointly and the results are discussed with them.

The obligation is thus directly linked to the reporting obligation: only when a report shows an unexplained gap of that magnitude, and remediation does not occur within the set timeframe, does the obligation to conduct a joint evaluation arise. For employers without a reporting obligation — because they fall below the threshold of one hundred workers — this obligation does not apply. In the Netherlands, the reporting obligation itself is not yet established: the legislative proposal implementing the directive, the Law on implementation of the directive on pay transparency between men and women, has been submitted to the House of Representatives but has not yet been adopted. As long as that remains the case, the obligation to conduct a joint pay evaluation does not yet apply to private employers in the Netherlands. For employers in the public and semi-public sector, this may be different, as they may already be directly bound by the directive under certain circumstances, now that the implementation period for the directive has expired.

Where this is stated in the directive: articles 10 and 13

The obligation to conduct a joint pay evaluation is set out in article 10 of directive (EU) 2023/970, including the 5 percent threshold and the six-month period within which an employer can remedy a difference itself. The role of worker representatives in this evaluation follows from article 13 of the same directive, which governs the involvement of the social partners. For the Netherlands, the status of implementation can be found in legislative proposal 36949 to the House of Representatives.