Last May, Directive 2023/970 of the European Parliament and of the Council was published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
The Directive entered into force on 6 June 2023 and Member States will have to implement the provisions contained therein by 7 June 2026, failing which the infringement procedure may be started against them.
Each Member State (including Italy) is required to adopt all the legislative measures necessary to guarantee pay transparency including in the private sector.
In particular, national legislation shall introduce legal obligations requiring employers to provide adequate information on wages and salary levels both to applicants for a job position and to existing workers.
In this regard, the Directive establishes that applicants for a job position must be guaranteed the right to receive all information on pay levels relating to a specific job, while all workers shall be able to access information on individual and the average pay levels broken down by sex, by personnel categories or by categories of workers performing the same work as them. The employer shall also be prevented from asking candidates for information on pay received in current or previous employment relationships.
To guarantee the functioning of the transparency mechanisms introduced, there shall also be an obligation for employers to inform all workers on an annual basis of their right to receive the information in question. In addition employers employing more than 100 employees shall mandatorily provide this information also to the designated authority.
This information should also be provided to workers’ representatives, labour inspectorates and equality bodies, who will also have the right to ask for further details of any data provided, including explanations of any gender pay differences.
National legislative instruments – to be adopted in compliance with the Directive – shall guarantee all workers access to information on individual and average wage levels broken down by gender, placing a burden on the employer to adopt appropriate and functional mechanisms for this purpose.
Employers will also have to prepare a description of the gender-neutral criteria for determining pay and career progression and will have to provide workers who request it with all the information on the pay level.
Member States will have to ensure that employers provide information relating to their organisation, in particular on the gender pay gap (in its complementary or variable components) both in the allocation and in the quantification, describing the number of female workers and male workers in each quartile pay band.
Employers with at least 250 workers shall, by 7 June 2027 and every year thereafter, provide the aforementioned data with reference to the previous calendar year. The same obligations apply to employers who have between 150 and 249 workers, who shall, by 7 June 2027 and every three years thereafter, provide the information, while employers who have between 100 and 149 workers have until 7 June 2031 to provide the information and it is to be provided every three years thereafter.
Other related insights:
