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ALERT / JUNE 9, 2026
Poland to introduce new employer obligations to fully transpose the EU Pay Transparency Directive
9 MIN READ
The Polish government has proposed new employer obligations to fully transpose the European Union Pay Transparency Directive by 7 June 2026. These include job evaluations to categorize employees that carry out the same or equivalent work, obligations to comply with new employee pay transparency rights, and pay gap reporting for employers with at least 100 employees.
Background
The European Union Pay Transparency Directive (Directive (EU) 2023/970, the “EU Directive”) entered into force on 6 June 2023 and requires each EU member state to transpose its provisions into their national law by 7 June 2026. The EU Directive sets minimum standards to strengthen pay transparency, promote equal pay for equal work, and impose gender pay gap reporting obligations on employers. While Member States must meet these minimum standards, they are also free to go beyond them, meaning national approaches to pay transparency may vary across the EU. (See Lockton article here (opens a new window) for more details on the EU Directive and creating a roadmap for compliance.)
Poland has chosen to transpose the EU Directive’s provisions in two phases. In the first phase, the Act of 4 June 2025 (the “Act”) introduced pre-employment requirements that took effect on 24 December 2025.These include mandatory disclosure of remuneration information to job applicants, gender-neutral job advertisements, non-discriminatory recruitment processes, and a ban on requiring job applicants to provide their salary history. (See previous Lockton article here (opens a new window) for more details.)
Since the Act only addressed pre-employment requirements under the EU Directive, further legislative measures are required for Poland to fully transpose the EU Directive. In a second phase, the Polish government published a draft bill (the “Bill”) on 16 December 2025, which proposes the implementation of the remaining requirements by the deadline of 7 June 2026. As the Bill is still undergoing the legislative process, it remains subject to amendments.
Key details
Key details for employers to note include the following:
Definition of “pay”
The existing Labor Code already sets out the right for employees to have the right to equal pay for equal work or for work of equal value, as well as a definition of “pay” similar to the EU Directive’s broad definition. “Pay” includes all components of remuneration, regardless of their name and nature, as well as other work-related benefits granted to employees in cash or any other form. As a result, employers will need to identify and measure all benefits provided to employees.
Job evaluations
A key concept under the EU Directive is the categorization of employees that carry out equal or equivalent work. In line with this, the Bill proposes that all employers, regardless of size, would be required toconduct job evaluations to determine the categories of employees that carry out the same or equivalent work.
These job evaluations must be based on objective and gender-neutral criteria, which must minimally include skills, effort, responsibilities, and working conditions. Soft skills should also be taken into account, provided they are required for a particular job or position. Employers may also establish other additional criteria or sub-criteria, if relevant for the specific position. Employers with trade unions will be required to establish such criteria, sub-criteria (if any), and categories of employees in agreement with them.
The Bill also provides that an analytical tool will be made available to support employers in carrying out the job evaluations. A draft of the tool has been published here (opens a new window).
Employee rights
Under the Bill, employees will be entitled to the following rights, which meet the minimum standards under the EU Directive:
All employers will be required to ensure that employees have access to the criteria used to determine their pay, pay levels, and pay progression.
While the EU Directive permits Member States to exempt employers with fewer than 50 employees from the obligation to provide access to criteria on pay progression, Poland has chosen to extend the obligation to employers with fewer than 50 employees. These employers must provide this information within 14 days of an employee’s request.
All employees will have the right to request information about their own pay and the average pay, by gender, for employees doing the same or equivalent work.
The employer must provide this information in writing within 30 days of the request, which is a shorter timeframe than the EU Directive’s minimum standard of “within a reasonable time” but no later than two months.
Employers must also notify employees annually by 31 March of this right and the steps to exercise it.
Employees cannot be prevented from disclosing their remuneration to exercise their rights under the principle of equal treatment in employment.
These employee rights would apply to all employers, regardless of size.
Pay gap reporting obligations
Poland currently does not impose any pay gap reporting obligations on employers. The Bill proposes meeting the EU Directive’s minimum standards on pay gap reporting obligations, which would depend on the number of employees (this includes all employees, as well as temporary workers hired through temporary employment agencies):
Number of employees | Reporting frequency | First report due date |
250 and above | Every year | 7 June 2027 (for data from 7 June 2026 to 31 December 2026) |
150 – 249 | Every three years | 7 June 2027 (for data from 7 June 2026 to 31 December 2026) |
100 – 149 | Every three years | 7 June 2031 (for 2030 data) |
Poland has chosen not to impose reporting obligations on employers with fewer than 100 employees. However, these employers may report voluntarily.
Notably, while the first report due date will be 7 June for the first reference period (as shown above), subsequent reports will be due on 31 March for the previous calendar year, which is earlier than the EU Directive’s minimum deadline of 7 June.
Employers would be required to report the following information:
The gender pay gap
The gender pay gap in supplementary or variable components
The median gender pay gap
The median gender pay gap in supplementary or variable components
The percentage of female and male employees receiving supplementary or variable components
The percentage of female and male employees in each pay quartile (i.e., the scale in which employees are divided into four equal groups according to wage level, from the lowest to the highest)
The gender pay gap between employees, broken down by categories of employees and by basic pay and by supplementary or variable components
Employers with trade unions must provide the unions with access to the method used for drawing up the report and confirm the accuracy of the information in consultation with them.
This information would be reported electronically to a monitoring body, yet to be announced, which will publish the data. Employers are not required to make the information publicly available, such as through their websites, although they may choose to do so voluntarily.
In addition, employers must communicate information on the gender pay gap between employees, broken down by categories of employees and by basic pay and by supplementary or variable components, to employees and trade unions by 31 March each year. If requested by an employee, the employer must provide this information for the previous four years, if available, within 14 days of receipt of the request.
An employee will also have the right to request detailed explanations regarding the pay gap report, which the employer must provide within 14 days of receiving the request. The employer must take effective remedial action for any unjustified gender pay gaps “within a time limit which takes into account the scope of the action required,” but no later than eight months after providing the detailed explanations.
Joint pay assessments
Employers would be required to conduct a joint pay assessment in consultation with trade unions (or employee representatives, if there is no trade union) if all the following apply:
The report shows a gender pay gap of at least 5% in a category of employees.
The employer has not justified the gap based on objective and gender-neutral criteria.
The employer has not taken effective measures to address the unjustified gap within six months from the date of submission of the pay gap report.
The joint pay assessment would aim to identify, address, and prevent unjustified pay differences between male and female employees. The results must be provided to employees and trade unions (or employee representatives) within 14 days of completion. The employer must implement measures resulting from the assessment within eight months of providing the results.
The employer must implement measures arising from the assessment within eight months of providing the results. This implementation timeframe goes beyond the EU Directive’s requirement that corrective measures be taken within a reasonable period.
Enforcement
In the event of violations, a fine of PLN 3,000 to PLN 50,000 may be imposed.
Employer action: PREPARE TO ACT
As the Bill proposing additional pay transparency obligations is still undergoing consideration and has yet to be passed, employers should monitor the legislative process. Additional regulations are also expected to be drafted to implement certain provisions.
While employers may opt to wait until the Bill is implemented before establishing specific protocols, this will leave little time to act. Employers are strongly recommended to develop a roadmap as soon as possible outlining the steps needed to prepare for compliance. Possible actions employers can start taking are set out in the Lockton article on the EU Directive here (opens a new window).
If the Bill changes materially or passes, the Lockton Global People Solutions Compliance Practice will update this article accordingly.
Further Information
