---
title: Women in Greece Can Now Ask What Male Colleagues Earn as 22 EU Countries Miss the Equal Pay Deadline
description: Greece's equal pay law applies from 1st November 2026. See where all 27 EU countries stand and how to ask your employer what colleagues earn.
author: Dr Marina Nani (Editor-in-Chief)
date: 2026-11-01T14:16:11.916Z
updated: 2026-11-01T14:17:52.218Z
canonical: https://richwoman.co/article/eu-pay-transparency-tracker
image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/pexels-7433930.webp
categories: Money, Female leadership
content_type: News
region: Europe
publication: Rich Woman Magazine
about:
  - type: Organization
    name: European Union
---

Would you know if the man at the next desk earned more than you for the same job? If you work in Greece, you can now find out. Now every employer in Greece must run a written pay structure that guarantees equal pay for the same work or work of equal value, whatever the size of the business. You can put a written request to your employer for your own pay level and the average pay of women and men doing work comparable to yours, and your employer has two months to answer.

Greece is one of only five EU countries with the full law in force. The EU Pay Transparency Directive, formally Directive 2023/970, requires equal pay for women and men doing the same work or work of equal value, and gives you the right to see the pay information that proves it. The European Union set 7th June 2026 as the date for all 27 member states to write the Pay Transparency Directive into national law. Twenty-two of them missed it, including Germany, France and Spain. Across the EU, women earn on average 11.1% less per hour than men.

## Greek employers must now show you the pay range before your first interview

Law 5316/2026 came into force on 6th July 2026, and most of its duties apply from 1st November 2026. If you apply for a job in Greece, the employer must tell you the starting salary or pay range before your first interview. The employer may no longer ask you what you earned in previous jobs, so a low past salary can no longer set the level of your next one.

Job adverts may not refer to gender, marital status or family status. Once you are employed, your employer must remind all staff every year of the right to request pay information and explain how to use it.

Pay must be set by objective criteria: skills, effort, responsibility and working conditions. Seniority and relevant soft skills may also count. Where a collective labour agreement applies, employers may use its job classifications and pay scales.

## A 5% gap that nobody can explain now forces a joint pay review

Greek employers must review their own gender pay gap, including bonuses, the median gap and differences across categories of staff. A joint pay assessment with employee representatives starts when three conditions meet: the average gap between women and men in any category of staff reaches 5%, gender-neutral factors such as experience or qualifications do not account for it, and the employer has not corrected it within six months of submitting the data.

The assessment must also check how many women and men received a pay rise after returning from maternity, paternity, parental or carers' leave. If you believe you are paid unequally, you can take your case to the Labour Inspectorate or the courts, with support from the Greek Ombudsman and trade unions. Fines for employers range from €300 to €50,000.

## Only five EU countries have the full law in force

Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Malta and Slovakia have complete laws in force. Belgium, Czechia, Estonia and Poland have some of the rules live. Eleven countries have bills in progress, six have published nothing at all and Sweden has paused its work.

Rich Woman updates this tracker each time a country moves.

![Chart grouping all 27 EU countries by pay transparency status: five in force, four partial, eleven draft, six with no bill and Sweden paused.](https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/eu-pay-transparency-tracker.webp)

The eleven countries with bills in progress are Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania and Spain. Austria, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Luxembourg and Slovenia have published nothing.

## Germany, France and Spain are still drafting their laws

The three largest economies in the EU have missed the deadline. Germany has not published a draft bill and is aiming for early 2027. France sent its bill to Parliament in September 2026. Spain has a draft royal decree, although Spanish employers already keep pay registers and run pay audits under existing rules.

Sweden has gone furthest in resisting. Its government has paused work on the law and is seeking to reopen the directive at EU level, on the grounds that Swedish collective bargaining already handles pay equality. The European Commission has turned down requests to extend the deadline, and countries that stay late can face infringement proceedings.

## Your employer's first pay gap report is still due in June 2027

National delays do not move the directive's own reporting date. If you work for an employer with 150 or more staff anywhere in the EU, its first gender pay gap report is due by 7th June 2027, based on pay in 2026. The year that report will measure is almost over.

Employers with at least 100 staff will eventually have to publish their gap. If a report shows an unexplained gap of 5% or more, the employer must carry out a pay assessment. If your employer fails to meet its transparency duties and you bring a claim, the employer must prove there was no pay discrimination, rather than you having to prove there was. If you suffered pay discrimination, you can claim compensation, and equality bodies or workers' representatives can act for you in legal or administrative proceedings. Each country sets its own penalties for employers that break the equal pay rule.

## How to ask your employer what colleagues earn

Put the request in writing and keep a copy. Ask for two things: your own pay level and the average pay, broken down by sex, for staff doing the same work as you or work of equal value. Send it to HR or the person responsible for pay, and note the date you sent it.

If you live in Greece, Italy, Malta or Slovakia, your employer must reply within the time the national law sets, which is two months at most. In Lithuania, the right to information applies from January 2027. In countries that have not legislated yet, your right to a reply depends on national law, although public sector staff may be able to rely on the directive directly. A written request still puts the question on record.

You can copy and adapt this letter.

> Dear [name], Under the pay transparency rules that implement EU Directive 2023/970, I am requesting the following information in writing: first, my individual pay level; second, the average pay levels, broken down by sex, for employees in my category of work who do the same work as me or work of equal value; and third, the criteria the company uses to set pay, pay levels and pay progression. Please send this information within the period the law allows, and in any case within two months of the date of this letter. Kind regards, [Your name], [Job title and department], [Date]

## Women in the UK sit outside the directive

The United Kingdom left the EU before the directive was adopted, so its rules do not apply to UK employers. In the UK, employers with 250 or more staff must [publish their gender pay gap each year](https://richwoman.co/article/equal-pay-day-close-your-pay-gap), but there is no duty to put pay ranges in job adverts and no 5% trigger for a joint review. The UK government has consulted on its own changes, which Sovereign Magazine reported in [the UK pay transparency plan that could show staff how close new starters' pay is to theirs](https://richwoman.co/article/uk-pay-transparency-job-adverts-loyalty-penalty).

If you work in the UK for a company with staff in the EU, the rules of each EU country where your company employs people apply to those employees. A company with teams in Greece, Italy and Germany must follow three different national regimes.

## How this tracker is compiled

The status of each country comes from national law references and from law firm and HR trackers updated in October 2026, cross-checked against each other. The five countries marked 'In force' are checked against their official laws: Greece Law 5316/2026, Italy Legislative Decree 96/2026, Malta Legal Notice 173 of 2026, Lithuania's Labour Code amendments of 21st May 2026 and Slovakia's Act on the Application of the Principle of Equal Pay. The EU gender pay gap figure and the directive's requirements come from the European Commission. This tracker is a guide, not legal advice. Last checked on 1st November 2026.

## FAQ

**Q: What are the main points of the EU Pay Transparency Directive?**
The directive requires equal pay for women and men doing the same work or work of equal value. Employers must tell job applicants the starting salary or pay range before the interview and may not ask about previous pay. Employees can request their own pay level and the average pay, broken down by sex, for colleagues doing comparable work. Employers with at least 100 staff must report their gender pay gap, and an unexplained gap of 5% or more triggers a joint pay assessment with employee representatives. If an employer fails its transparency duties, the burden of proof in a discrimination claim shifts to the employer.

**Q: What will the EU Directive on pay Transparency introduce in 2026?**
EU member states had until 7th June 2026 to write the directive into national law. Where a country has done so, employers must now share pay ranges with applicants, stop asking about salary history and answer employees' requests for pay information within two months. During 2026, employers with 150 or more staff are also collecting the pay data for their first gender pay gap report, which is due by 7th June 2027. Many countries missed the 2026 deadline, so the rules that apply to you depend on where you work.

**Q: What are the downsides of pay transparency?**
Pay transparency adds administrative work for employers, who must document pay structures, classify jobs by objective criteria and produce regular reports, and smaller firms feel this cost most. Published pay ranges can reduce the room an employer has to reward individual performance or to match a competing offer. When colleagues see each other's pay for the first time, unexplained differences can cause tension until the employer explains them. Pay data without context can also be misread, so employers who publish figures usually need to explain the criteria behind them.