Salary transparency: what will change for HR from 2026
One of the dates that HR departments will need to mark in their calendars for 2026 is June 7, the day by which Italy must officially transpose the European Directive on pay transparency (EU 2023/970).
From that moment on, talking about salary transparency in Italy will become, to all intents and purposes, a legal obligation that directly affects those working in Human Resources: recruiting, compensation, evaluation, career paths, and internal communication.
The context explains well why this regulation is coming now.
According to the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report 2025 by the World Economic Forum, the global gender gap remains significant and, in economic and employment terms, it will take "decades" to close:
Looking at Italy, data from the Inside the Gap observatory Inside the Gap show us that the pay gap is influenced by structural factors: horizontal segregation, fewer women in management roles, and uneven distribution of bonuses and benefits.
In this guide, we will look at what will change with the introduction of wage transparency in 2026, what obligations will come into force, how to prepare, and what opportunities will open up for those who manage people.
What is the European Pay Transparency Directive (and what does it entail)?
The European Directive on Pay Transparency (EU 2023/970) is a regulation approved by the European Union to ensure equal pay between men and women through clear tools for transparency, monitoring, and the right to information.
Italy must transpose it by June 7, 2026, after which date many measures will become mandatory.
The Directive was created to bridge a gap that is still very much present: the average gender pay gap in Europe is around 12.7%, and in Italy it remains high, mainly for cultural reasons, horizontal segregation, and less access to top positions.
More specifically, with the entry into force of the law, companies will have to:
- openly share the criteria for determining salaries and career progression;
- ensure that employees have access to a range of information relating to average salaries by position and level. In particular, an employee may request the average salary of colleagues in the same category of equal value, broken down by gender;
- commit to reducing the gender pay gap. Companies will be required to produce a report on this. If the pay gap between men and women is equal to or greater than 5%, the company will have to carry out a joint assessment with employee representatives to identify the causes and propose a mitigation plan;
- reporting on salary policies on a regular basis, submitting internal data to the competent authorities.
Let's examine these aspects in more detail.
The main obligations introduced by the Pay Transparency Directive
There are several obligations introduced by the Pay Transparency Directive that companies will have to comply with. Before going into detail about the regulatory obligations, it is worth remembering that we have explored these issues, along with the practical implications for HR, in our webinar "Towards pay transparency: the role of assessments in adapting to new regulations."
If you want to understand how to prepare your organization and what tools can support you, this is a great place to start. You can review the webinar by clicking here.
Salary transparency right from the recruitment stage
One of the most significant obligations introduced by the European Directive on pay transparency (EU 2023/970) is the requirement to make remuneration criteria clear and visible even before the selection process begins.
All companies will be required to:
- indicate the salary range in the job advertisement, avoiding opaque or personalized negotiations;
- refrain from asking candidates for information about their salary history;
- Ensure objective, transparent, and gender-neutral remuneration criteria already at the job posting stage.
This represents a paradigm shift not only for compliance, but for the entire way HR and hiring managers define roles, budgets, and financial offers.
According to Deloitte, the Directive requires that remuneration criteria be "based on measurable and verifiable elements, free from gender bias."
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN IN PRACTICAL TERMS FOR HR?
- You will no longer be able to improvise during negotiations or rely on the "perceived market." You will need a clear compensation structure, with well-documented levels, bands, criteria, and increments.
- Job advertisements must always include the salary range, benefits, and bonuses offered, as well as any variables and criteria for awarding them.
- It will be necessary to have a documented process that explains every decision, for example by using effective behavioral interviews based on standardized criteria;
- There will no longer be room for so-called "salary anchoring."
One way to make recruiting more transparent is to introduce a assessment of skillsin the early stages of screening.
Right of workers to access pay information
Another pillar of the Directive concerns the right of every worker to obtain clear, written information about their pay and the average pay of people doing work of equal value.
This right applies to both individual remuneration and averages by gender and category.
Companies will therefore be required to provide employees, upon request:
- the average remuneration of comparable colleagues (by role, level, and responsibility);
- the objective criteria used to determine remuneration and progression;
- any gender pay gaps and the formal reasons justifying them.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN IN PRACTICAL TERMS FOR HR?
- you will need to create an internal system to manage these requests and provide accurate and up-to-date data;
- Remuneration policies must be structured and documented impeccably, so that any differences in pay can be explained.
- It will be necessary to define clear growth criteria, because employees may ask to see how their colleagues are progressing.
- You will need to carefully manage internal communication: this right may generate expectations, questions, and requests for clarification from teams.
Mandatory reporting on gender pay gaps
The Directive also introduces a structural obligation to report periodically on remuneration, with a specific focus on gender pay gaps.
As reported by Aon, companies with more than 100 employees will be required to publish an annual or biennial report (depending on size) containing:
- average pay gap between men and women;
- distribution by levels and categories;
- gap in bonuses, benefits, and variable components;
- indicators on career progression.
There is another key point: if the wage gap exceeds 5% and the company cannot justify it with neutral criteria, it must initiate a joint assessment with union representatives or employees.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN IN PRACTICAL TERMS FOR HR?
- You will need to prepare in advance, because collecting data requires up-to-date and consistent HR systems.
- It will be important to equip yourself with a job evaluation that establishes what "equal value" means in your business context.
- You will need to monitor pay gaps constantly , not just when reporting. To do this, HR departments increasingly need people analytics tools. people analytics that provide reliable data.
- Reputational risk increases: reports will be public and can be compared over time.
Elimination of salary secrecy clauses
Another key point is the prohibition on using clauses that prevent employees from discussing their salaries.
This means that every person will have the right to freely share their salary with colleagues and representatives.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN IN PRACTICAL TERMS FOR HR?
- you will need to adapt contracts, internal policies, regulations, and company documents;
- Internal transparency will become inevitable: managers and team leaders must be prepared to handle sensitive conversations.
- Unjustified disparities will quickly emerge: a corrective plan based on objective criteria is needed.
Objective and neutral remuneration criteria
The Directive requires that all remuneration policies (starting salaries, bonuses, promotions) be based on objective, measurable, and gender-neutral criteria.
We also specify that the definition and application of these criteria must also involve employee representatives.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN IN PRACTICAL TERMS FOR HR?
- you will need to update all compensation and benefits policies;
- managers must follow clear criteria for salary increases and raises;
- You will no longer be able to base increases or offers on "perceptions ": everything must be measurable.
- It will be necessary to train HR, managers, and recruiters on the new criteria.
How Skillvue helps companies prepare for salary transparency
As we have seen, wage transparency will not be a simple regulatory requirement: it will become a litmus test of a company's organizational maturity .
We know that it is impossible to guarantee recognition of the "equal value" of work and neutral remuneration criteria without rigorous measurement of skills. Skillvue meets this need by combining psychometric science and internally developed AI to provide reliable, explainable, and easy-to-use assessments that best meet the requirements of the new European legislation.
Skill Assessments collect users' responses to technical tests and behavioral evidence through situational questionsbased on the BEI model, allowing for the objective measurement of hard skills, soft skills, professional maturity, and readiness for more complex roles.
The use of AI is designed to be ethical and controllable: models are tested for gender equity, decisions are tracked and supervised by experts, and outputs are standardized to reduce variability and subjectivity.
This allows us to transparently link skills and pay bands, define defensible equal value criteria, support data-driven job grading, document pay differences, and reduce the risk of discrimination or unjustifiable discrepancies. Skillvue makes what the law requires scalable: evaluating hundreds or thousands of people quickly, keeping data up to date, and integrating skills into compensation, career path, and reporting processes, allowing HR to operate with rigor, speed, and compliance.
To learn more, start here.
Frequently asked questions about salary transparency
What does "abolition of wage secrecy" mean?
This means that the company can no longer prohibit employees from discussing their salaries. Workers can freely compare notes and access data on average salaries by role and gender.
What is the pay transparency decree?
This is the measure that Italy must approve by June 7, 2026, to transpose EU Directive 2023/970. It will introduce requirements such as salary ranges in job advertisements, objective salary criteria, and periodic reports on gender pay gaps.
When is the principle of equal pay respected?
When two people doing the same job or jobs of equal value receive the same pay, based on objective, measurable, and gender-neutral criteria.
When does wage transparency come into effect?
In Italy, it will come into effect after the transposition decree, expected by June 7, 2026.
The first reporting obligations will come into effect between 2027 and 2028, depending on the size of the company.
