Labour law and HR Polish Draft Act on Pay Transparency — What We Know Today and Its Implications for Employers
The Polish government has published a draft act implementing EU Directive 2023/970, which aims to effectively strengthen the principle of equal pay through pay transparency, objective job evaluation, and pay gap reporting in companies with 100 or more employees. Discover the key obligations and practical steps you can take now to prepare your organization safely ahead of the 7 June 2026 deadline.
Equal pay in practice: Government publishes draft to implement Directive (EU) 2023/970
On 12 December 2025 , a draft Act on strengthening the application of the right to equal remuneration for women and men for equal work or work of equal value was prepared. The draft was published on 16 December 2025 in the List of Legislative Work of the Council of Ministers (No. UC127) and is intended to implement Directive (EU) 2023/970 into Polish law.
👉 Full text of the draft and the explanatory memorandum:
From principle to practice: new mechanisms for pay transparency and enforcement
Although the principle of equal pay for women and men has long existed in Polish law—both at the constitutional level and in the Labour Code—the draft introduces new, detailed mechanisms to enable its effective application in practice. As noted in the explanatory memorandum, the current framework has not ensured sufficient transparency of pay systems or effective tools for enforcing the right to equal pay.
Alignment with Directive (EU) 2023/970: pay transparency and objective criteria at the core
Importantly, the draft Act does not depart from the assumptions of the Directive. The solutions proposed by the Polish legislator are consistent with its purpose and scope, focusing on pay transparency, objective pay criteria and effective enforcement mechanisms. This means the direction of change has been predictable and known since the Directive’s adoption in 2023.
Job evaluation (work of equal value): objective, gender neutral criteria
One of the key elements of the draft is job evaluation. The draft clearly indicates that what is assessed is the value of the work, not the person performing it. Evaluation is to be based on objective and gender-neutral criteria, such as skills, effort, responsibility, and working conditions. This is intended to form the foundation for building pay structures and enable comparisons of work of equal value within an organisation.
Pay transparency: employee information rights
The draft significantly strengthens employees’ information rights. Employees will have the right to request information on their individual level of remuneration as well as on average remuneration—broken down by sex—for comparable categories of workers. Employers will be obliged to ensure easy access to the criteria for setting pay and rules for pay progression, and contractual clauses prohibiting disclosure of pay for the purpose of pursuing equal treatment claims will be inadmissible.
Gender pay gap reporting: obligations for employers with 100+ employees; remedial actions from 5%
For employers with at least 100 employees, the draft provides reporting obligations regarding the gender pay gap. Where an unjustified pay gap of at least 5% is identified, there will be a duty to undertake remedial measures and, in specified situations, to carry out a joint pay assessment with employee representation.
Timeline and preparation: treat pay transparency as a strategic project by 7 June 2026
Although the draft Act is currently at the legislative stage, the implementation deadline for the Directive—7 June 2026—remains unchanged. For employers, this means that implementing pay transparency will not be a one-off change to policies or contracts, but a systemic process and a strategic project requiring the organisation of pay structures and advance organisational preparation.
