Goodbye to salary secrecy: it will be possible to know the salaries of colleagues

In the European Union, women’s salaries are lower than those of their male colleagues: female workers they earn, on average, 13% less of the workers. The gender pay gap has remained essentially the same over the past decade. Among the consequences of the pay inequality, a greater risk of poverty and the pension gap which, in 2018, according to data from the European Council, was around 30%.

For this reason, it was approved in May a new EU directiveThat Italy will have to transpose by 7 June 2026with the aim of strengthening equal pay for men and women who carry out the same tasks.

In addition to providing for the obligation to declare salary already in the job advertisement, the directive abolishes salary secrecy. All workers in a company must be able to know the salaries of colleagues who do the same job, and no clause can forbid it. In this way, it will be easier for working women to notice any inequalities. The request for information can start from a workeror by trade unions, e the company will have a maximum of two months to respond.

In the event of gender-based pay discrimination, the employee will be entitled to claim compensation, which will have to include «the full recovery of arrears of wages and related bonuses», «compensation for missed opportunities, immaterial damage, damages caused by other relevant factors», and «late interest». It will be up to the employer to demonstrate, where appropriate, that no rules on transparency and fairness of salaries have been violated.

Companies with more than 250 employees will also be required to report annually to the relevant national authority on the gender pay gap in their organisation. In the event of a pay gap of more than 5% that cannot be justified on the basis of objective criteria, companies will be required to carry out a joint wage assessment in collaboration with workers’ representatives.