Closing the pay gap: The Dutch response to the EU Pay Transparency Directive

The EU Pay Transparency Directive seeks to make unjustified pay differences visible and contestable. The Netherlands is now preparing its legislation. The key issue for employers is how the Dutch implementation will affect the way of payment is structured, documented and monitored in practice.

The proposed rules affect every employer at two points. Before employment, employers must disclose the proposed starting pay or pay band before salary discussions and may no longer ask about an applicant’s pay history. During employment, workers may request written information on their own pay and on the gender-disaggregated average pay of colleagues performing the same work or work of equal value. Contractual pay-secrecy restrictions will no longer be effective.

The proposal also introduces phased gender pay-gap reporting for employers with 100 or more employees. Employers with 250 or more employees report annually (first report due 07 June 2028); those with 150–249 employees every three years (first report also due 07 June 2028); and employers with 100–149 employees from 07 June 2031. When the report reveals an unexplained pay difference of at least 5 % within a category of employees that persists for six months, a joint pay assessment will be required.

The Dutch approach nevertheless has a distinctive character. The Government has opted for strict implementation: the bill does not add obligations beyond those required by the Directive and seeks to limit administrative burdens. Unlike some other EU Member States, the Netherlands has not chosen to have the authorities prepare employers’ reports from existing administrative data. Employers therefore remain responsible for compiling and submitting the relevant information.

The Works Council will have consent right regarding the remuneration structures, the objective and gender-neutral criteria on which those structures rest, and the categorisation of employees. 

An employer that fails to comply with specified transparency obligations will bear the burden of proof that no prohibited pay discrimination occurred. The main Dutch risk is therefore evidential, not simply administrative: employers should review pay structures, job-evaluation systems and recruitment practices before a request or claim exposes gaps in the underlying rationale.

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Maaike Koot is a lawyer at TK and part of the international corporate employment law team. Maaike advises on reorganisation and dismissal, (collective change of) employment conditions, sickness and reintegration, temporary employment law and management agreements.