From announcement to concrete obligation
For employers with one hundred employees or more, the reporting obligation concerning the gender pay gap shifts this year from something that "is coming" to something you actually need to put in place. This is not because the rule itself has suddenly become stricter, but because Member States are gradually transposing the European Directive into national legislation. Where the obligation was previously a European framework without direct effect, it now becomes concrete in the country where you are established: with a specification of who must report, over which period, and to which authority.
For those concerned, that is primarily a practical question: do you fall within the scope if you have one hundred or more employees, and if so, when must you provide data for the first time. That second point depends on the national implementation in your country and therefore does not stand equally certain everywhere. What does matter: if your organisation is around that one hundred threshold, now is the time to determine how you count and what you arrive at, rather than waiting until a deadline approaches.
What has and has not changed this year
The starting point of the Directive has not changed: employers with one hundred or more employees report periodically on remuneration differences between men and women, broken down by categories of work considered equivalent. What does change this year is the extent to which that starting point takes concrete form in the legislation of the country where you are established. Some Member States have already set their national rules, others are still working on it. This means that the exact submission deadline, the delivery format and the supervisory authority receiving the report may differ per country and, at the time of writing, do not stand equally clear for every country.
For employers operating in multiple EU countries, that is a reason not to assume that one approach suffices everywhere. The classification of functions, the categories used and the reporting calendar may differ per country of establishment, even though the underlying European framework is the same. For those wishing to know more about this, you will find in the knowledge base with the rules explained per situation an overview of what has already been established per topic and what is still in flux.
Why this may be relevant for you, even if you are still below one hundred
The threshold of one hundred employees is usually measured at company level, not per location, and growth is not always predictable within a calendar year. An organisation that is just below the threshold this year may exceed it next year through a merger, an acquisition or ordinary headcount growth. Because reporting requires data from a preceding period, it is not something you set up overnight. The function classification on which reporting is based, the way remuneration is recorded, and the question of which functions are mutually comparable, take time to set up carefully.
That is why it makes sense to determine now where your organisation stands, even if the first reporting date for your country has not yet been set. With a brief compliance check that indicates what applies now and what comes later you gain clarity on which obligations already apply to you and which only become relevant at reporting.
What this does not mean
This shift says nothing about whether any pay gap found in your organisation is justified or not; the directive requires measurement and reporting, not a judgment on that, and that judgment is not for a system like ours to make either. Nor does it say anything about how a supervisor in your country will enforce or how quickly that happens; that is for the competent authority to decide and, where your specific situation is concerned, for a lawyer to assess. What is certain, however, is that the preparation — the job classification, the documentation of remuneration policy, the set-up of a workflow for information requests — requires a lead time that cannot be completed in a few weeks.
For employers who want to know what this concretely means for their own number of employees and country of establishment, it is advisable to follow national developments alongside the European text itself. Read more about where our information comes from and how it is kept up to date on the page that explains where the information comes from.
Finding out where you stand
Entrepreneurs who prefer not to wait until all details per country have crystallised can now use the free quick-scan to see whether the reporting obligation applies to their organisation, and what is already concretely established about it at this time. If you have doubts about a detail that specifically affects your situation, you may find an answer in the frequently asked questions about the pay transparency rules and if not, that is the time to consult a lawyer or the competent supervisor.