Skip to main content
Regulation

Pay Transparency Directive (Loontransparantie)

The Pay Transparency Directive, Directive (EU) 2023/970, had to be transposed by 7 June 2026. The Dutch bill (Kamerstuk 36949) targets 1 January 2027 and has employers with 150 or more workers file a first pay gap report by 7 June 2028, on 2027. As at 13 October 2026 it awaits a vote in the Tweede Kamer.

6 min read

When do the pay transparency rules apply in the Netherlands?

Not yet. As at 13 October 2026 the Dutch implementing bill is still before the Tweede Kamer, and the government aims for entry into force on 1 January 2027. Directive (EU) 2023/970, the Pay Transparency Directive, gave Member States until 7 June 2026 to transpose it. The Netherlands missed that deadline and told the Tweede Kamer so in a letter of 15 September 2025. The bill, Kamerstuk 36949, has no transitional law: almost every duty applies on the day it enters into force.

The bill also moves the first pay gap report back by a year. The Directive has employers with 150 or more workers report on 2026 by 7 June 2027. The Dutch bill has them report on calendar year 2027 by 7 June 2028, a date an order in council (AMvB) still has to fix. Employers with 100 to 149 workers report first by 7 June 2031 under both texts.

Last updated: 13 October 2026. Checked against the Official Journal text of Directive (EU) 2023/970, the bill and its explanatory memorandum (Kamerstukken II 2025/26, 36949, nrs. 2 and 3), the government's reply of 2 September 2026 (nr. 6), the nota van wijziging (nr. 7), the Raad van State advice and the Tweede Kamer dossier.

At a glance

Official title

Directive (EU) 2023/970 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 May 2023 to strengthen the application of the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value between men and women through pay transparency and enforcement mechanisms

CELEX

32023L0970 · no amending acts as at 13 October 2026

OJ

OJ L 132, 17.5.2023, p. 21

In force

6 June 2023, the twentieth day after publication (Article 36)

Transposition

By 7 June 2026 (Article 34(1)); the Netherlands missed it

First pay gap reports

By 7 June 2027 for employers with 150 or more workers and by 7 June 2031 for 100 to 149 (Article 9) · Dutch bill: 7 June 2028 for 150 or more

Scope

Employers in the public and private sectors, every worker with an employment contract or relationship, and job applicants (Article 2)

Dutch implementing act

Wet implementatie Richtlijn loontransparantie mannen en vrouwen (Kamerstuk 36949), amending the Wet gelijke behandeling van mannen en vrouwen (Wgbmv): submitted 21 May 2026, awaiting plenary debate as at 13 October 2026, target entry into force 1 January 2027

Supervision (NL)

Nederlandse Arbeidsinspectie for administrative enforcement and fines · the Minister of Social Affairs and Employment collects the reports · the College voor de Rechten van de Mens and the courts for individual cases

Who is in scope?

Every employer is in scope of the pay transparency rules, public or private; headcount decides which duties apply. Article 2 of Directive (EU) 2023/970 covers employers in the public and private sectors, every worker with an employment contract or employment relationship, and job applicants for the recruitment rules.

The Dutch bill draws three lines by headcount:

  • Every employer: pay information for applicants, no questions about pay history, access to the criteria behind pay, the right to information, and a job evaluation system that gives equal pay for equal or equivalent work.
  • From 50 workers: access to the criteria for pay progression as well (new Article 10a(2) Wgbmv).
  • From 100 workers: the pay gap report, and a joint pay assessment where it shows a gap of 5 percent or more that the employer cannot justify (new Articles 10c and 10d).

Headcount is the number of workers in the previous calendar year, with part-time work counted in full-time equivalents. Agency workers count at the hirer, not at the agency (new Article 10a(3)). The explanatory memorandum cites CBS figures of 8,475 organisations with more than 100 workers in the first quarter of 2025. In its reply of 2 September 2026 the government put one-off costs at about €109 million across 427,280 employers, €255 each on average.

What does the pay transparency law require?

  • Directive Art. 5 · Wgbmv Art. 3

    Pay information before the interview

    Applicants receive the starting pay or its range, based on objective, gender-neutral criteria, before pay is negotiated. The Directive says before the job interview, or otherwise before the contract is signed. Employers may not ask what an applicant earns now or earned before.

  • Directive Art. 6 · Wgbmv Art. 10a

    Pay and progression criteria

    Workers get easy access to the criteria that set their pay and pay levels. The Netherlands uses the option in Article 6(2): the criteria for pay progression are owed from 50 workers.

  • Directive Art. 7 · Wgbmv Art. 10b

    Right to information

    A worker may ask in writing for their own pay level and for average pay, split by sex, of workers doing the same or equivalent work. The employer answers within two months and reminds all workers of this right once a year.

  • Directive Art. 9 · Wgbmv Art. 10c

    Pay gap report

    Seven figures, from the mean and median gender pay gap to the share of women and men in each pay quartile. Yearly from 250 workers, every three years from 100 to 249. Management confirms the figures and the works council is consulted on them (Wor Art. 31d).

  • Directive Art. 10 · Wgbmv Art. 10d

    Joint pay assessment

    Due when the report shows a gap of 5 percent or more in a category of workers that the employer cannot justify and has not closed within six months. The assessment goes to the workers and the Minister of SZW, and the works council has a consent right over it (Wor Art. 27).

  • Directive Art. 4 · Wgbmv Art. 8

    Job evaluation system

    Every employer needs a system for valuing and grading jobs that gives equal pay for equal or equivalent work, built on skills, effort, responsibility and working conditions. Under the Dutch bill a missing or flawed system can be fined (new Art. 22).

The dates

2023

  1. 17 May 2023 · Set by law

    Directive (EU) 2023/970 published in the Official Journal (OJ L 132)

  2. 6 June 2023 · Calculated

    Directive (EU) 2023/970 enters into force

    Article 36: the twentieth day after publication.

2025

  1. 15 September 2025 · Set by the Minister of Social Affairs and Employment

    Minister tells the Tweede Kamer that transposition by 7 June 2026 is not feasible

2026

  1. 1 April 2026 · Set by the Raad van State

    Raad van State advises on the Dutch bill (W12.26.00016/III)

  2. 21 May 2026 · Set by the Tweede Kamer

    Dutch bill submitted to the Tweede Kamer (Kamerstuk 36949)

  3. 7 June 2026 · Set by law

    Member States bring national measures into force (Article 34(1))

    The Netherlands had no implementing law in force on this date.

  4. 2 September 2026 · Set by the Minister of Social Affairs and Employment

    Government replies to the Tweede Kamer's report and files a nota van wijziging (36949, nrs. 6 and 7)

  5. 9 September 2026 · Set by the Tweede Kamer

    Tweede Kamer schedules the bill for plenary debate

2027

  1. 1 January 2027 · Indicative: Minister of Social Affairs and Employment, 2 September 2026

    Wet implementatie Richtlijn loontransparantie mannen en vrouwen enters into force

    The bill leaves the date to royal decree (Article VI). As at 13 October 2026 it still needs a plenary vote in the Tweede Kamer and passage by the Eerste Kamer.

  2. 7 June 2027 · Set by law

    Employers with 150 or more workers file their first pay gap report, on 2026 (Article 9(2) and (3))

    The Dutch bill moves this to 7 June 2028 for employers in the Netherlands.

2028

  1. 31 January 2028 · Set by law

    Member States send gender pay gap statistics to Eurostat, first for reference year 2026 (Article 31)

  2. 7 June 2028 · Proposed (bill 36949, explanatory memorandum)

    Dutch employers with 150 or more workers file their first pay gap report, on 2027 (new Article 10c Wgbmv)

    An order in council under new Article 22f is to fix the date.

  3. 7 June 2028 · Set by law

    Member States send the reporting data to the Commission, then every two years (Article 29(4))

2031

  1. 7 June 2031 · Set by law

    Employers with 100 to 149 workers file their first pay gap report (Article 9(4))

    The explanatory memorandum to the Dutch bill gives the same date; the order in council under new Article 22f is to fix it.

  2. 7 June 2031 · Set by law

    Member States inform the Commission on implementation and its impact (Article 35(1))

2033

  1. 7 June 2033 · Set by law

    Commission reports to Parliament and Council on implementation (Article 35(2))

Without an official date

  1. Every year by 7 June from 250 workers, every three years from 100 to 249 · Recurring

    Pay gap report on the previous calendar year (Article 9; new Article 10c Wgbmv)

How does the Dutch bill differ from the Directive?

Article references in the third column are to the Wgbmv as the bill would amend it, unless stated otherwise.

PointDirective (EU) 2023/970Dutch bill (Kamerstuk 36949)

National rules apply

By 7 June 2026 (Art. 34(1))

Target 1 January 2027; date by royal decree (Art. VI)

First report, 150 or more workers

By 7 June 2027, on 2026 (Art. 9(2) and (3))

By 7 June 2028, on 2027 (explanatory memorandum; order in council under Art. 22f)

First report, 100 to 149 workers

By 7 June 2031 (Art. 9(4))

By 7 June 2031 (explanatory memorandum; order in council under Art. 22f)

Report frequency

Yearly from 250 workers, every three years from 100 to 249

The same (Art. 10c(1))

Report goes to

The national monitoring body (Art. 9(7) and 29)

The Minister of SZW, electronically only (Art. 10c(4))

Pay progression criteria

Member States may exempt employers under 50 (Art. 6(2))

Exemption used: owed from 50 workers (Art. 10a(2))

Maximum administrative fine

Left to national law (Art. 23)

Third category of the Wetboek van Strafrecht, doubled for a repeat within five years (Art. 22c)

Who enforces the pay transparency rules in the Netherlands?

Three bodies share the work under the Dutch bill. The Nederlandse Arbeidsinspectie, already the supervisor of the Wgbmv, gets new powers: officials designated by the Minister of Social Affairs and Employment can set a compliance demand, issue a written warning, impose an order subject to a penalty (last onder dwangsom) or impose an administrative fine (new Articles 22a and 22b). The Minister of SZW acts as the monitoring body: the ministry collects the pay gap reports and joint pay assessments and publishes the figures (new Article 10e), with its DSU directorate as the intended executor. Individual cases go to the College voor de Rechten van de Mens or to the courts.

What can be fined?

New Article 22 lists the duties that carry a fine: the job evaluation system (Article 8), access to the pay criteria (Article 10a), the pay gap report and its submission (Article 10c, paragraphs 1, 3, 4 and 6) and the joint pay assessment (Article 10d). The maximum is the third fine category of the Wetboek van Strafrecht, which the explanatory memorandum puts at €10,300 at 2024 amounts. A repeat within five years doubles it (new Article 22c). Measures are made public, no sooner than ten working days after the employer is notified (new Article 22e).

Two duties are missing from that list: the pay information owed to applicants, ban on pay history questions included, and the worker's right to information. Those are enforced through claims. An employer that breaches them must prove there was no pay discrimination (new Article 11a, following Article 18(2) of the Directive), unless the breach was clearly unintentional and minor. The nota van wijziging of 2 September 2026 added the pay history ban to Article 11a.

What has changed recently?

2 September 2026. The government answered the Tweede Kamer's written report (36949, nr. 6) and filed a nota van wijziging (nr. 7). It kept 1 January 2027 as the target date, confirmed there is no transitional law, and kept the first report for employers with 150 or more workers at 7 June 2028, on 2027. The nota van wijziging brought the ban on pay history questions under the reversed burden of proof.

9 September 2026. The Tweede Kamer put the bill on its list for plenary debate. As at 13 October 2026 no vote is recorded.

7 June 2026. The transposition deadline in Article 34(1) passed with no Dutch law in force.

21 May 2026. The Minister of Social Affairs and Employment submitted the bill to the Tweede Kamer, after the Raad van State advised on it on 1 April 2026.

Check which pay transparency duties reach your entities

Book a working session and we will map each entity's headcount to the duties in the Directive and the Dutch bill, naming the article and the source for each conclusion.

Book a working session

Questions and answers

When does the Dutch pay transparency law take effect?

The government aims for 1 January 2027. As at 13 October 2026 the bill, Kamerstuk 36949, still needs a plenary vote in the Tweede Kamer and passage by the Eerste Kamer, and it leaves the date to royal decree. The EU deadline in Article 34(1) of Directive (EU) 2023/970 was 7 June 2026 and has passed.

When do Dutch employers file their first gender pay gap report?

Under the Dutch bill, employers with 150 or more workers report on calendar year 2027 by 7 June 2028, and employers with 100 to 149 workers report first by 7 June 2031. Both dates come from the explanatory memorandum and an order in council is to fix them. Directive (EU) 2023/970 itself sets 7 June 2027, on 2026, for employers with 150 or more workers.

Do employers with fewer than 100 workers have to report on the pay gap?

No. Under Directive (EU) 2023/970 and the Dutch bill the pay gap report starts at 100 workers. Smaller employers still owe applicants pay information, may not ask about pay history, must answer a worker's request for pay information within two months and need a gender-neutral job evaluation system.

Can a Dutch employer still ask an applicant about their current salary?

Not once the Dutch bill is in force. New Article 3(7) of the Wet gelijke behandeling van mannen en vrouwen bans questions about pay in current or earlier employment, following Article 5(2) of Directive (EU) 2023/970. The ban carries no administrative fine in the bill, but an employer that breaks it carries the burden of proof in a pay discrimination claim (new Article 11a).

What happens when the pay gap report shows a gap of 5 percent or more?

Under new Article 10d of the Wgbmv, the employer must carry out a joint pay assessment when a category of workers shows a gender pay gap of 5 percent or more that the employer cannot justify on objective, gender-neutral criteria and has not closed within six months of reporting. The assessment goes to the workers and the Minister of SZW, and the works council has a consent right over it.

What is the maximum fine under the Dutch pay transparency bill?

The maximum administrative fine is the third category of the Wetboek van Strafrecht, which the explanatory memorandum to Kamerstuk 36949 puts at €10,300 at 2024 amounts. A repeat within five years doubles it. Fines cover the job evaluation system, access to pay criteria, the pay gap report and the joint pay assessment, and are made public.

Does the Pay Transparency Directive apply before the Dutch law does?

Not to private employers: Directive (EU) 2023/970 binds Member States, and private employers follow the current Wet gelijke behandeling van mannen en vrouwen until the implementing bill takes effect. The explanatory memorandum accepts that public-sector workers may, under conditions, invoke the Directive against the State as employer before then.

How are workers counted for the 50, 100 and 250 thresholds?

Under new Article 10a(3) of the Wgbmv, an employer counts the workers of the previous calendar year, with part-time work expressed in full-time equivalents. Agency workers count at the company they are placed with, not at the agency.