Megtilthatom a munkavállaläknak, hogy a fizetésükről beszélgessenek?

A confidentiality clause on pay contradicts the right to information

No, a general ban on discussing your own salary with colleagues is incompatible with the direction in which the regulations are moving. The directive gives employees the right to request what the average compensation level is within their category of equal work, broken down by gender. That right is only worthwhile if employees can also compare with each other what they earn — a confidentiality clause undermines precisely the purpose for which that right to information is intended.

For Dutch employers, the situation is currently in limbo. The bill that anchors this right to information in Dutch law is still under consideration by the House of Representatives and therefore does not yet apply to private employers. A contractual confidentiality provision on salary is not explicitly prohibited by law for them at present. For employers in the public and semi-public sector, it is different: because the deadline for implementing the directive has passed, they may already be directly bound by the directive. And courts are expected to interpret existing national law, including the Equal Treatment of Men and Women Act, as far as possible in light of the directive.

Where this follows from: Article 7 of the directive and the legal status

The essence of the answer comes from Article 7(1) of Directive (EU) 2023/970, which gives employees the right to request the average compensation level per category, broken down by gender — a right that would be obstructed by a confidentiality obligation about one's own salary. The fact that this right does not yet apply as an enforceable obligation for private employers follows from the status of the bill implementing the pay transparency directive: submitted on 21 May 2026, not yet considered in plenary and therefore not yet in force. The fact that courts must in the meantime already interpret in accordance with the directive and that the public sector may already be directly bound follows from the expiry of the implementation deadline on 7 June 2026.