On May 19, 2026, the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy submitted a draft amendment to the Protection Against Discrimination Act, which aims to transpose Directive (EU) 2023/970 of the European Parliament and of the Council of May 10, 2023, on strengthening the application of the principle of equal pay for women and men for equal work or work of equal value through pay transparency and enforcement mechanisms. The main objective is to strengthen mechanisms for preventing discrimination in the determination and payment of wages, as well as to introduce new obligations for employers regarding pay transparency and reporting.
The draft requires employers to ensure greater transparency as early as the recruitment stage. Job postings must use gender-neutral job titles and employers will not be permitted to select candidates based on discriminatory criteria. Job applicants must be provided with information regarding the amount or range of the base salary, additional compensation, and the applicable terms under collective bargaining agreements.
At the same time, employers are prohibited from requesting information about compensation received by the employee from previous employers.
Significant emphasis is placed on the obligation to apply objective criteria when determining and increasing compensation. The criteria should take into account the complexity, difficulty, and responsibility of the work, working conditions, as well as the quantity, quality, and duration of the work performed. Thus, employers will need to have clearly structured and well-founded systems for job evaluation and pay, which requires amending internal rules regarding the organization of wages.
A right is also introduced for workers and employees to receive information regarding their own remuneration and the average pay levels within the company for persons performing the same or equivalent work, broken down by gender. The employer is required to provide this information in writing within a specified timeframe, as well as to notify employees annually of the existence and manner of exercising this right. The information must also be accessible to persons with disabilities in an appropriate format.
The draft also introduces reporting obligations regarding pay gaps between women and men. Employers with 250 or more employees will submit information annually to the Commission for Protection against Discrimination, while employers with 100–249 employees will do so once every three years. The reporting will include data on average and median pay gaps, additional compensation, and the distribution of employees by category and pay grade. If an unjustified pay gap of at least 5% is identified, the employer will be required to provide a justification and take corrective measures. In cases where unjustified pay gaps are not eliminated, employers will be required to conduct a joint pay assessment with trade unions and employee representatives. The assessment should include an analysis of the causes of the differences, an evaluation of existing pay systems, and the planning of corrective actions to prevent pay discrimination.
The rules in the preceding paragraph regarding the reporting of pay gaps, as well as the conduct of a joint pay assessment with trade unions and employee representatives, shall enter into force on June 7, 2027 for employers with 150 or more employees, and June 7, 2031, for employers with 100 to 149 employees.
It is also planned to eliminate the possibility for employers to include clauses in employment contracts or internal rules that restrict employees from disclosing information about their own compensation. This aims to ensure the effective exercise of the right to equal pay and greater transparency in labor relations.
Most of the amendments are scheduled to take effect on June 7, 2026, while as noted, the obligations for reporting and joint pay assessment will be implemented in phases depending on the number of employees. The above amendments will likely necessitate the development of a comprehensive approach to reviewing, analysing, and revising employers’ internal rules and documentation (at a minimum, rules regarding wages); therefore, the recommendation would be not to delay addressing this issue at the internal corporate level, given the upcoming adoption of the changes.
This article has been prepared for and is part of the Legal Digest issued by Penkov, Markov & Partners. The publications therein do not constitute legal advice and are not binding. Penkov, Markov & Partners reserves all rights to this material, and any distribution thereof is subject to the prior written consent of the law firm.
