Europe – On average, women in the European Union earn 13% less than men – a difference that is due to several factors. With the Pay Transparency Directive, the EU wants to counteract this difference. After the European Parliament had already voted in favor of the directive by a majority at the end of March, the Council of the EU has now also approved the initiative. According to the draft legislation, companies above a certain size will have to disclose salary information and take action if the gender pay gap is higher than 5%. In addition, the new directive provides for sanctions and compensation in the event of violations.
NEXT STEPS: The new directive must be transposed into national law by the EU member states before it has to be applied on a staggered basis according to company size. Initially, companies with more than 150 employees will be affected by the provisions.
Source: Council of the EU