May you still ask a candidate what they currently earn?

No, the pay transparency directive is based on a prohibition: employers no longer ask job applicants about their current salary or the salary at a previous employer. This applies not only to the direct question in a conversation, but also to indirect methods such as a CV field where the last salary is mandatory, or a question via a recruitment agency that inquires on your behalf. The prohibition does not only concern the question itself. Actively using salary data that you happen to already have — for example from an earlier interaction with the same candidate — also does not align with the intention of the rule. The underlying principle is that an offer based on what someone previously earned perpetuates existing differences rather than breaking them down. This is why the salary range in the job posting and the prohibition on salary questions are mentioned in the same breath: one provides a reference point, the other prevents the conversation from still revolving around the old salary. ## What counts as asking about current salary The literal question "what do you earn now" is the clearest case, but practice has many more variants. Asking for a salary expectation as part of an online application form, a reference check that also covers compensation, or a recruiter who wants to "get a sense" of what someone is used to earning — these are all forms of the same question, just worded differently. For assessment purposes, it makes little difference whether the question is asked by you directly or by an external agency recruiting on your behalf; your responsibility for the recruitment process does not change because a third party conducts the conversation. What does matter is the distinction between current or previous salary on the one hand, and the candidate's salary expectations on the other. Asking what someone expects to earn in this role is a different conversation than asking what someone currently earns. Most HR teams can make this distinction, but it does require that application forms and conversation guides be consciously reviewed — a standard field for "current salary" that has been in the template for years, for example, easily falls under this category. ## Why this is independent of employee count Unlike the reporting obligation, which only applies from one hundred employees onwards, the prohibition on salary questions is among the obligations without a threshold. This means that an installation company with eight employees is just as affected as an organisation with three hundred. The same applies to the salary range that must appear in the job posting and the requirement that selection criteria be formulated in a gender-neutral manner. These three points directly affect the recruitment procedure, and it is precisely here that the risk of unintended deviation is greatest, because job posting texts and application forms are often reused unchanged for years. Whether a specific question, a form field or a conversation format fits within the rule depends on the precise wording and the context of the position. This cannot be captured in one general statement, and the final interpretation per member state is not yet settled in all respects. For your own situation, this is something to check with a lawyer or, for the exact text of the directive, on EUR-Lex. ## What you can review now For most SMEs, this is mainly a matter of updating existing templates: the application form, the question list for the interview, and the instructions to an external recruitment agency if you work with one. Those who want to see how this relates to the other obligations that already apply, without a threshold for employee count, will find an overview in the [[LINK:/kennisbank|knowledge bank by topic]]. There you will find the brief answer for each point, with the reference to the official text. Because the salary question, the salary range in the job posting and the gender-neutral criteria often appear in the same text, it is practical to review a concrete job posting in this context as well. The [[LINK:/check|job posting check]] reviews a text on these points and provides an indication, free of charge and without an account. For the next step — the job classification and compensation policy that should underpin the job posting — you can find more on the page with [[LINK:/hoe-het-werkt|explanation of payria's approach]]. Do you need a complete picture of what already applies to your organisation and what does not, including the transition to one hundred employees and the reporting obligation that comes with it? The free compliance check provides that overview in a few minutes, and on the [[LINK:/prijzen|subscriptions page]] you can see what changes once you also need the detailed implementation and templates.