The Netherlands: The EU Pay Transparency Directive

Implementation and actions

What is the current implementation status and timing? (July 2026)

The Directive has not yet been implemented in the Netherlands and the 7 June 2026 transposition deadline was not met. A first draft of the proposal has been published and the public were able to respond until 7 May 2025.

The implementing bill was submitted to the Second Chamber of Parliament on 21 May 2026 and is currently being considered and possibly subject to changes. If the bill passes in the Second Chamber, it would still have to pass through the First Chamber. The bill is still expected to come into force on 1 January 2027. Employers should continue to monitor upcoming legislative developments.

What preparatory steps are you advising clients to take, including ensuring they have access to the required data?

• Conduct audits to identify any gender pay gaps, making sure that all information is available digitally.
• Other pre-emptive measures that employers should consider putting in place include:
  • Addressing gender pay gaps through strategic measures such as salary freezes and differentiated annual salary increases (potentially implemented over multiple years).
  • Implementing transparent pay policies and ensuring employees are informed about pay scales and career progression opportunities.
  • Establishing reporting mechanisms to accurately track and report gender pay gaps.
• It will be important to work with the works council (or employee representative body) to implement and evaluate transparent pay structures.

Implementing the Directive's requirements

Which workers are in scope?

The proposed bill links the definition of "worker" is linked to the concept of "employee" in the Netherlands (working on the basis of an employment agreement), including part-time, fixed-term, temporary agency workers, managers; and where criteria are met, atypical workers (e.g. zero hours, trainees, apprentices, platform workers).

Who will be workers' representatives?

The proposed bill assigns the primary role at company level to the works council, with a right of consent in respect of: the pay or job evaluation system, the objective and gender-neutral criteria underlying the job evaluation and classification system, the classification of categories of workers, the manner in which unjustified pay differences are remedies, and the pay assessment, including a remediation plan. Trade unions are the relevant representative bodies where matters are regulated by collective labour agreements. 

Are there any proposals around the methodology and tools for assessing "equal value"?

The proposed bill introduces a mandatory system for job evaluation and classification. The system must guarantee equal pay for equal or equivalent work. The system must encompass all criteria relevant to the job in question. It must include a minimum: skills, effort, responsibilities and working conditions. These criteria must be objective and gender-neutral and may not be based, directly or indirectly, on the sex of workers. The works council has consent rights over the system and the underlying criteria. 

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment will develop supporting tools and guidance in cooperation with social partners, but there are no specific tools in respect of "equal value" yet.  

How is pay defined?

The proposed introduces pay definitions. Pay is defined as the total remuneration owed by the employer to the worker in respect of their work, comprising both the base pay and the additional or variable components. The precise components to be included in pay gap reporting will be further specified by or pursuant to a general administrative order. A draft ministerial regulation has been published, which provides detailed calculation methods and definitions for the pay concepts used in the pay gap reporting obligation, including gross annual pay, gross hourly pay, and the value of supplementary or variable components. 

How are the requirements for transparency for job applicants being implemented?

Current position

Currently, all recruitment processes must be conducted in a non-discriminatory manner. There is a general prohibition on unequal treatment when offering a job and handling the filling of a vacancy, employment services and entering and terminating an employment relationship; employers may not therefore discriminate on the basis of certain grounds for discrimination. Acting in violation of this legislation is prohibited and may result in unlawful conduct (damages claim).

How are the requirements for transparency for workers being implemented?

The proposed bill introduces the following obligations:

• All employers must provide workers with easy access to the criteria used to determine pay and pay levels.
• Employers with at least 50 workers must additionally provide easy access to the criteria used to determine pay progression.
• Workers have the right to request written information about their individual pay level and the gender-disaggregated average pay levels for comparable categories of workers performing equal or equivalent work, to be provided within two months.
• Employers must annually inform workers of this right and how to exercise it.
• Contractual clauses preventing workers from disclosing their pay are void.

How are the gender pay reporting requirements being implemented?

The proposed bill introduces a mandatory pay gap reporting obligation:

• Employers with 250 or more workers: annual reporting obligation
• Employers with 100 to 249 workers: reporting every three years
• The specific data points to be reported include the pay gap, the median pay gap, the pay gap in supplementary or variable components, the share of male and female workers in each quartile pay band, and the pay gap per category of workers performing equal or equivalent work. 

The first reporting deadlines include:

• Employers with 150 or more workers: first report by 7 June 2028 (over calendar year 2027)
• Employers with 100 to 149 workers: first report by 7 June 2031 (over calendar year 2030).
   

When counting workers for the purposes of the Directive's pay reporting thresholds, will only workers of a particular "legal entity" be in scope?

The proposed bill stipulates that reporting is in principle done at the level of the individual employer. According to the proposed explanatory notes to the ministerial regulation, reporting can take place at group or holding level only when employment conditions are fully and mandatorily prescribed at holding level.

Do we have details on how the requirements for a joint pay assessment will be implemented?

The proposed bill introduces a mandatory joint pay assessment. The obligation is triggered when all three of the following conditions are cumulatively met:

• The pay gap report reveals a pay gap of 5% or more in the average pay level in a category of workers
• The employer cannot justify that gap on the basis of objective and gender-neutral criteria, and
• The employer has not remedied the unjustified pay gap within six months of submitting the pay report to the monitoring body.

The joint pay assessment must cover the elements listed in law and must be provided to workers and to the designated monitoring body. The works council has consent rights over the evaluation and the associated remediation plan. 

Do we have details as to how the Directive obligations will be enforced and potential sanctions?

The proposed bill introduces supervision and administrative enforcement. The following instruments are available to the designated enforcement officer:

• Compliance order
• Written warning
• Periodic penalty payment
• Administrative fine up to the amount of the third category of the Criminal Code (currently EUR 11,000) doubled for repeat offences within five years.

Inspection results will be made public, though the stated aim is transparency rather than publicity. The burden of proof shifts to the employer where transparency obligations have been met.

Are there any tools or guidance available to support employers?

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment (with the social partners) will develop methods and tools to establish pay structures and support reporting. 

There has been a guide published which was commissioned by the Ministry. The guide is designed to provide employers with guidance on how to establish, implement and monitor gender-neutral and objective pay structures. 

The guide can be found here (Dutch only). 

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