A draft law aimed at strengthening equal pay between men and women for equal work or work of equal value is currently under public consultation.
The main proposed measures include:

2.Employees’ right to information
Employees will be entitled to request information on their individual remuneration level and on the average remuneration levels, broken down by sex, of employees performing equal work or work of equal value.
Employers must provide this information within two months and inform employees annually of this right and the applicable procedure.
Any contractual clauses or provisions of collective bargaining instruments preventing employees from disclosing information about their remuneration will be deemed null and void.

3.Transparent remuneration policies
Employers must ensure the existence of a transparent remuneration policy based on objective and gender-neutral criteria, including skills, responsibilities and working conditions.
The criteria used to determine remuneration and pay progression must be disclosed to employees. Companies with fewer than 50 employees will be exempt from the requirement to post or make available on their intranet information regarding pay increases.

4.Reporting pay gaps
Companies with 50 or more employees must report information on pay gaps between men and women, including complementary or variable remuneration components and the respective distribution across different pay levels.

This reporting obligation will be phased in as follows:

Companies with 250 or more employees: annually, until7 June 2027;
Companies with between 150 and 249 employees: every three years, until 7 June 2027;
Companies with between 50 and 149 employees: every three years, until 7 June 2031.

5.Correction of pay gaps
Whenever pay gaps are identified, employers may be required to provide an objective justification or submit corrective measures.
Where an unjustified pay gap of at least 5% persists, a joint pay assessment involving employee representatives may be required. Pay gaps that are not duly justified will be presumed to be discriminatory.

6. Strengthening Protection Against Retaliation
Dismissal or other disciplinary action taken within three years of filing a complaint related to equal pay is presumed to be abusive, thereby extending the previous one-year time limit.

The proposal also provides for the imposition of administrative penalties and ancillary sanctions in the event of noncompliance.
The draft law, which provides only for the partial transposition of the European Pay Transparency Directive, is subject to a 20-day public consultation period, running from its publication on 5 August 2026. If adopted, the new framework will enter into force on the first day of the month following its publication.

For more information, please contact us by email at msb@ccsllegal.com 

[Photograph by: Jorge Percival, available at unsplash.com]