Pay transparency: new worker rights to salary information

Equal Opportunities – Discrimination
Pay Under Scrutiny: New Information Rights for Workers

The pay transparency decree introduces new information obligations on employers with the aim of providing workers with tools to verify compliance with the equal pay principle. Companies will be required to make accessible the criteria used to determine pay and the pay levels applied to staff, as well as the criteria governing pay progression, where applicable.
A specific right to information is also conferred on workers. Upon request, including through trade union representatives or equality bodies, they will be entitled to obtain data on average pay levels, broken down by sex, for categories of staff performing the same work or work of equal value. The employer must provide a response within two months.
Of particular importance is the prohibition on restricting the circulation of information on individual remuneration. Clauses preventing workers from disclosing their pay are incompatible with the new provisions.
The legislature also addresses the accessibility of information. All data and communications required under the new rules must be made available in formats that are accessible to persons with disabilities, taking into account the specific needs associated with the type of disability concerned.
The new rules strengthen transparency in corporate pay mechanisms, on the basis that greater openness is an essential instrument for preventing and identifying instances of unequal treatment.