European Directive (EU) 2023/970 on pay transparency must be transposed into Belgian law by 7 June 2026 at the latest.
Its aim: to strengthen pay equality between women and men through greater transparency.
Although the Belgian transposition legislation has not yet been adopted, one thing is certain: companies will have to adapt several HR processes.
What will change in practice:
1. Before recruitment
- obligation to inform the candidate of the starting salary or salary range
- prohibition on asking for salary history
2. During employment
- transparency regarding pay and progression criteria
- right for employees to request information on their pay and on average pay by category (broken down by gender)
3. Reporting (companies with ≥ 100 employees)
- Obligation to publish detailed reports on gender pay gaps
- If an unjustified gap of ≥ 5% appears in a category → mandatory action plan
Why start preparing now? Because these obligations often involve:
- Reviewing job classifications
- clarifying and objectifying remuneration criteria
- structuring HR and payroll data
- documenting HR decisions
- adapting recruitment practices
Pay transparency is not just a legal obligation. It is also an opportunity to strengthen trust, fairness and employee engagement.
