Key obligations under the Directive

Information obligations (applicable regardless of headcount)

Pay transparency in recruitment

Employers will be required to disclose the initial pay or pay range for a position either in the job advertisement or before the interview process begins. All job advertisements must be written in a gender-neutral manner. Additionally, employers will no longer be allowed to ask candidates about their current or previous salary history. Candidates may voluntarily disclose this information, but it cannot be requested.

Employee information rights during employment

Employees will have the right to request (written) information about their individual pay level as well as the average pay level, broken down by gender, for employees performing the same work or work of equal value. Employers must respond to such requests within (maximum) two months.² Furthermore, pay secrecy clauses that prevent employees from discussing their remuneration will be prohibited.

Employers must use objective and gender-neutral criteria when determining salary, pay levels and career progression and provide their employees with easy access to this information. Note that Belgium can exclude companies with fewer than 50 employees from the information obligation on career progression—this remains to be seen.

Gender pay gap reporting

Employers with a headcount of at least 100 employees³ will be required to report on several key indicators, including:

• The gender pay gap (including with respect to complementary or variable components)
• The median gender pay gap (including with respect to complementary or variable components)
• The ratio of female to male employees receiving complementary or variable components and the ratio of female to male employees in each quarter pay band
• The gender pay gap between employees by categories of employees broken down by normal base salary and complementary or variable components

This information will need to be shared with several stakeholders such as the supervisory body to be designated by the Member States (which will publish the majority of this information on a publicly accessible website) and the employees and employee representatives.

The timeline for these gender pay gap reporting obligations varies depending on the company’s headcount⁴:

• Companies with 250 or more employees must report annually starting in June 2027.
• Companies with 150 to 249 employees must report every three years starting in June 2027.
• Companies with 100 to 149 employees must report every three years starting in June 2031.

Sanctions and legal remedies

The Directive provides for strong enforcement mechanisms and extensive employee rights, including (but not limited to) the following:

• If a gender pay gap of 5% or more is identified in any category that cannot be justified by objective, gender-neutral criteria and is not remedied within six months following the reporting, a joint pay assessment will be mandatory. This means that employers must conduct an assessment that includes a root cause analysis and proposed corrective measures in consultation with employee representatives.
• Employees who have experienced pay discrimination will be entitled to full compensation, including (uncapped) backpay.
• If a presumption of discrimination is established by a court or if the employer has not complied with the pay transparency obligations, the burden of proof will shift to the employer.
• Member States must put in place effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties in case of non-compliance (including fines).

Envisaged implementation in Belgium

Interestingly, the first legislation (partially) implementing the Directive was issued in Belgium—albeit only at regional level—and more specifically in a Royal Decree from the Wallonie-Bruxelles Federation. The scope of application, however, is limited to public sector employers within the Wallonie-Bruxelles Federation.

This means that this legislation only covers a very limited range of employers in Belgium. The Directive was also only partially implemented, since several aspects of the Directive will need to be transposed at the federal level. Remarkably, on some aspects, the Royal Decree expands protection beyond the Directive on topics related to gender identity, family responsibilities and intersectional discrimination. The question arises whether similar choices will be made for the federal legislation.

It remains to be seen whether Belgium will be ready in time to implement the Directive by the deadline of 7 June 2026, since we currently still are far removed from a complete and final legal framework on this topic.

What employers should do now

To prepare for the implementation of the Directive (with the first reporting cycle potentially already in 2027 (based on 2026 data)), employers should:

Structural measures

• Define job descriptions, job levels and salary bands.
• Conduct a gender pay gap analysis.
• Ensure objective justification criteria (e.g., skills, effort, responsibilities, working conditions) are in place.

Process adjustments

• Review and update recruitment procedures.
• Train HR teams on the Directive’s requirements.

The Directive marks a significant shift in pay governance. Employers should act now to ensure compliance and foster a transparent, equitable workplace.

To help you navigate these changes, we have also developed a range of practical tools and resources such as our Monthly Implementation Status Map and our Equal Value Assessment (EVA) solution, providing a data-driven approach to categorizing and reporting on gender pay gaps.

For assistance with compliance strategy, job classification, or pay audits, please contact our team.

1 Directive (EU) 2023/970 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 May 2023 to strengthen the application of the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value between men and women through pay transparency and enforcement mechanisms.

2 Member States are free to determine a shorter deadline.

3 Member States are free to determine a lower headcount threshold and will also need to determine how this headcount is calculated.

4 How this headcount will be calculated is currently unclear. In addition, Belgium may deviate from these thresholds and deadlines, potentially introducing stricter requirements or earlier implementation for smaller companies.