Does the directive apply to my company if we have fewer than 100 employees?

Yes, but only companies with more than 100 employees are required to report the gender pay gap. The rest of the directive applies to all companies in the EU.

Do employees have the right to know exactly how much their coworkers earn?

No, not as an individual. Employees have the right to know their own salary level and the average salary level for positions of equal value to their own or for positions similar to their own.

What happens if the report shows that we have a pay gap of more than 5%?

If the pay gap between comparable positions exceeds 5%, you must be able to justify it using objective, gender-neutral criteria. If you cannot justify it, you must work with employee representatives to develop a concrete action plan to close the gap.

When do companies need to have this in place?

Although the official implementation date for the Pay Transparency Directive is June 7, 2026, you may not need to have everything ready by that date. In Finland and Sweden, the directive has been postponed indefinitely. As for Norway, the country is not part of the EU but will adopt its own version of the directive through the EEA Agreement. However, even though the directive has been postponed for some, it’s a good idea to be prepared now to avoid running into problems when it takes effect.

The EU Pay Transparency Directive

Job Titles

All of your employees in Huma have a job title, and that position is the basis for each employee's pay level.

Job Descriptions

Huma can write your job descriptions for you. Add the details about the role, and Huma drafts the description.

Equal Pay Groups

Group employees into roles with equal or equivalent work, based on gender-neutral criteria.

Salary Analysis

See average pay broken down by gender — per group and across the organisation. Pay gaps become easy to spot.

Create job titles, job descriptions, and group employees into equal pay groups based on objective, gender-neutral criteria. This makes it easier to explain people’s salaries and provide a basis for why they are what they are. This saves time and eliminates stress.

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In Huma, there are several places where you can provide employees with information about pay and explain why you pay different positions the way you do. Manuals, News, and Documents are just a few of the places where you can include this information.

Learn more about digital handbooks in Huma

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In Huma, you can get a clear overview of pay gaps between women and men within the same group or across your company as a whole. This provides a basis for easy analysis and potential explanations or corrective action.

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In 2023, the EU decided to introduce a new directive aimed at closing the gender pay gap. Time is quickly running out, as the directive will be implemented in June 2026, so let’s take a look at what it means for you — whether you’re an employer, an employee, or a job seeker.

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