Month: April 2026

Key takeaways:

 

1. Pay transparency from the job offer stage: The proposed salary (or its range), as well as key elements of the applicable collective agreement, must be communicated before or during the job interview. In addition, employers will no longer be allowed to ask candidates about their past salaries.

2. Pay transparency for existing employees:

a) Right of access to pay information: Any employee will be able to obtain, in writing, information about their own pay as well as average pay levels, broken down by gender, for equivalent positions. Employers will be required to inform employees of this right on an annual basis. In principle, only companies with more than 10 employees will be concerned.

b) Revision of the Gender Equality Index: The index would be expanded to seven indicators to better measure pay gaps between women and men. Employers will be required to justify or correct any unjustified disparities, with information and consultation of employee representatives depending on the size of the company.

c) Redefinition of work of equal value: Employers will be required to classify jobs of equal value within the same category, based on new criteria. This classification must be established through a company- or sector-level agreement by the end of 2026, or, failing that, by a unilateral decision following consultation with employee representatives.

d) Adjustment of the burden of proof in pay matters: In the event of a dispute, the employee or candidate may present evidence suggesting pay discrimination, and the employer will then have to prove that any differences are based on objective criteria.

e) Prohibition of clauses restricting transparency: Clauses preventing employees from disclosing or discussing their pay will be null and void.

f) Sanctions for non-compliance with new pay obligations: In case of violations, two levels of administrative sanctions are envisaged:

 

• • • Up to 1% of the payroll for failures related to the indicators and corrective measures (2% in case of repeat offenses).
    • Up to €450 for failures to inform employees or candidates (doubled in case of repeat offenses).

*

 

Despite some progress, the average wage of women remains 22.2% lower than that of men in the private sector, including part-time work. On a full-time equivalent basis, women’s average pay is still 14.2% lower than men’s.

 

To fight against these inequalities and the culture of pay secrecy that tends to reinforce them, the European Union adopted Directive 2023/970 (the “Directive”) on 10 May 2023, “aimed at strengthening the application of the principle of equal pay for women and men for the same work or work of equal value through pay transparency and enforcement mechanisms.”

 

In practice, the provisions of this Directive aim to enhance pay transparency through the introduction of new binding mechanisms. The goal is to facilitate access to pay information, ensure non-discriminatory pay criteria, and improve remedies in cases of discrimination.

 

The Directive must be transposed into French law by 7 June 2026, although it is already clear that France will not meet this deadline. The government plans to submit the draft bill to Parliament at the end of May for review in June–July, with final adoption expected by the end of the year—but the busy parliamentary schedule could further delay this timeline. Implementing decrees will then be required before any provisions can take effect.

 

A first version of the draft law aimed at transposing the European Directive on pay transparency was sent to social partners and parliamentarians on 6 March. The text was again the subject of a consultation meeting with employers’ and employees’ organizations on 19 March.

 

1. Pay transparency before hiring

 

Regardless of the size of the company, job postings must now comply with the requirements of the new European Directive. The draft law provides for the obligation to communicate the following information in writing to candidates—or, if no job offer is provided, before or during the recruitment interview:

 

• the amount of the salary or a salary range for the position;
• relevant provisions of the collective agreement, such as benefits, bonuses, or minimum pay levels.

 

In practice, phrases such as “salary will be determined based on the candidate’s profile” will no longer be allowed.

 

Furthermore, it will be prohibited to ask candidates for information about their salary history, whether from their current or previous jobs.

 

The objective of these measures is to prevent past salaries, which may be discriminatory, from influencing future pay, while promoting transparency and equal treatment among candidates during salary discussions and negotiations.

 

2. Pay transparency for current employees

It is within this framework that the Directive introduces the largest number of new obligations.

 

a) A new right to information granted to employees

 

According to the document sent by the Ministry of Labour to social partners, employees will now be able to request from their employer information about their own pay as well as the average pay levels, broken down by gender, of employees in the same category—that is, performing the same or equivalent work.

 

This information should be provided in writing, either directly to the employee or through trade union representatives or the Works Council (CSE). Employers should also inform all employees annually of the existence of this right and respond to requests within a timeframe specified by decree.

 

If providing this data could indirectly identify an employee due to an insufficient number of people in the relevant category, the employer may refuse to disclose the requested information but must inform the employee of this decision.

 

During the meeting with social partners on 19 March, the Ministry of Labour clarified that this threshold will be set at 10 employees. A decree will be required to formalize this decision.

 

In any case, structured, transparent, and accessible pay systems must be implemented, along with a clear internal procedure for handling employee requests related to remuneration.

 

b) A new Gender Equality Index

 

The Ministry is considering a revamp of the professional equality index. Recall that every year, no later than 1 March, companies with at least 50 employees must publish a measure of pay gaps between women and men, calculated using four or five indicators depending on the workforce size. This information is included in the economic, social, and environmental database and made available to the Works Council (CSE).

 

As part of the transposition of the Directive, the government intends to completely revamp the Gender Equality Index, which would include seven new indicators. These will be specified by decree, but it is likely that they will largely reflect the provisions set out in the Directive itself:

 

• • • The pay gap between women and men;
    • The pay gap between women and men in terms of variable and additional components;
    • The median pay gap between women and men;
    • The median pay gap between women and men in terms of variable and additional components;
    • The proportion of women and men receiving variable and additional pay components;
    • The proportion of women and men in each pay quartile, i.e., divided into four equal groups based on their pay levels;
    • The pay gap between women and men within categories grouping employees performing the same or equivalent work.

 

The first six indicators will be annualized and systematically reported through the DSN, while the seventh, which will still need to be prepared by employers, must be submitted:

• • • Annually in companies with at least 250 employees;
    • Every three years in companies with 50 to 249 employees.

 

The planned framework also includes several obligations scaled according to the size of the company:

 

• • • In companies with 50 to 99 employees, the CSE would be informed about the data used to calculate the indicators and their results. If the seventh indicator reveals a gap exceeding a threshold set by decree, the employer would be required to enter mandatory negotiations on gender equality to define corrective measures. If no agreement is reached, these measures must be included in the employer’s unilateral action plan. A collective agreement could also exempt the company from reporting this indicator.
    • In companies with at least 100 employees, the CSE must not only be informed but also consulted on the data used to calculate the indicators and their results. Its opinion would be submitted by the employer to the administrative authority. Additionally, employees, the CSE, or trade union representatives could request clarifications and justifications from the employer regarding the seventh indicator, to which the employer would be obliged to respond with reasoned explanations.

 

If the seventh indicator reveals a gap exceeding the threshold set by decree, the employer would have two options:

 

• • • Justify the gap with objective and non-gender-biased criteria, after consultation with the CSE. If the employer chooses this option and the justification is absent or insufficient, they must correct the gap within six months of the first declaration and then submit a new declaration. At the end of this period and after the new declaration, if the gaps persist and remain unjustified, the employer would be required to enter negotiations on corrective measures through a collective agreement or, failing that, via an action plan.
    • Directly initiate negotiations aimed at adopting corrective measures without waiting for the six-month period.

 

c) New criteria for assessing “work of equal value”

 

The criteria used to assess whether jobs are of equal value would be expanded. Article L. 3221‑4 of the Labour Code, which sets these criteria, would thus be amended to also include non-technical skills and the concept of working conditions.

 

An obligation would also be introduced for the employer to establish a categorization of employees performing work of equal value. This categorization should be defined through a company-level agreement or, failing that, a sector-level agreement. In this context, representative employers’ and employees’ trade unions at the sector level would be invited to enter negotiations to potentially conclude such an agreement by 31 December 2026. In the absence of an agreement at these levels, the employer could unilaterally set this categorization after consulting the CSE, for a period of three years.

 

d) An adjusted burden of proof in pay matters

 

Article L. 3221‑8 of the Labour Code would be rewritten to clarify the adjustment of the burden of proof in disputes related to pay equality. As with other cases of discrimination, it would be the responsibility of the job candidate or employee to present factual evidence suggesting the existence of direct or indirect discrimination.

 

The text specifies the nature of this evidence, which could notably include:

 

• • • Statistical data;
    • The salary of a previously hired employee by the same employer;
    • The salary of an employee from another employer when the relevant pay conditions are set by a common collective agreement or contract (intercompany, group-level, or within an economic and social unit agreement).

 

Once this evidence is presented, it would be up to the employer to demonstrate that any differences in treatment are based on objective criteria, independent of any discrimination.

 

The same rules would apply if the employer fails to comply with the new pay transparency obligations, unless they can demonstrate that the breach was clearly unintentional and of minor significance.

 

e) Prohibition of clauses restricting the disclosure of pay-related information

 

Any contractual clause prohibiting an employee from disclosing their salary or sharing pay-related information with colleagues will be deemed null and void. It is clear that transparency takes precedence over individual secrecy: the employer will under no circumstances be able to sanction an employee for discussing their pay conditions.

 

f) Implementation of sanctions in case of non-compliance

 

A specific regime of administrative sanctions would be established in the event of violations of the new obligations imposed on companies.

 

Two categories of violations would thus be targeted:

• Violations related to the obligations to report the new indicators on pay gaps and the measures taken to reduce them. After, in certain cases, a formal notice procedure, the administrative authority could impose a penalty of up to 1% of the total wages paid to the company’s employees. The amount of this penalty would be set by the administration and could only be applied once per year for each type of violation provided by the law. In case of recidivism within five years following a previous sanction, this ceiling could be increased to 2% of the payroll;
• Several violations of transparency and information obligations, notably those related to informing employees, communicating indicator results, or providing information to candidates. These could give rise to an administrative penalty of up to €450, which could also be doubled in case of repeat offenses within five years following a previous sanction.

 

On the civil side, an employee who believes they have been subjected to pay inequality can still take legal action to obtain full compensation for their loss. The Directive provides that the at-fault employer must compensate for all losses resulting from the discrimination, including arrears of unpaid wages, associated bonuses, and redress for missed opportunities related to this difference in treatment.

 

In summary, transposing this Directive requires a solid understanding of the new obligations and proactive preparation for the upcoming changes.

 

The draft law sets out the implementation timeline for its Article 1. These provisions would come into effect on a date set by decree and at the latest within one year of the law’s enactment, except for the provisions relating to:

 

• The obligation to report the seventh indicator, which would come into effect on a date set by decree and at the latest by 1 June 2030 for companies with fewer than 150 employees;
• The right of employees to information, which would come into effect from the date of entry into force of the agreements or the employer’s unilateral decision establishing a categorization of employees performing work of equal value, and at the latest within one year of the law’s enactment.

 

It should also be noted that, in addition to these future measures, (i) negotiations on professional equality remain mandatory in companies with trade union representatives and (ii) companies with more than 1,000 employees must ensure that 30% of their senior management are women by 2027, rising to 40% by 2030 (the Rixain Act).