PAY TRANSPARENCY: DRAFT LEGISLATIVE DECREE IMPLEMENTING THE EU DIRECTIVE APPROVED
On 5 February 2026, the Council of Ministers gave preliminary approval to the draft legislative decree implementing Directive (EU) 2023/970 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 May 2023, which aims to strengthen the application of the principle of equal pay for men and women for the same work or for work of equal value through pay transparency and related enforcement mechanisms.
The text will now be submitted to the relevant parliamentary committees for final approval, which must take place by 7 June 2026.
In summary, the regulatory framework provides for:
- its application to both public and private sectors, to employment contracts (excluding apprenticeship, domestic work, and intermittent work contracts), as well as to job applicants;
- the criteria for identifying “the same job” or “work of equal value”;“;
- the obligation to provide information on remuneration at the pre-recruitment stage, entailing necessary changes affecting job offers and selection procedures;
- the obligation to inform employees about the criteria used to determine remuneration and economic progression;
- the right of employees to receive information on average remuneration levels, broken down by gender, for categories of workers performing the same job or work of equal value;
- the regulation of cases in which employers must carry out a joint assessment of remuneration with employee representatives;
- the forms of protection for employees in court and the reversal of the burden of proof (entirely borne by the employer);
- the establishment, tasks, and composition of an authority at the Ministry of Labor and Social Policies to monitor and promote the implementation of the legislative decree.
