Salary transparency from 2026: This will change for employees

From June 2026 a new era in labor law is dawning in Germany: The EU Pay Transparency Directive obliges companies to be significantly more open when it comes to salaries. The aim is to combat wage discrimination and finally enforce equal pay for equal work or work of equal value. For employees, this means above all more rights, better insights and greater opportunities to assert their claims.

More transparency right from the application process

In future, employers must already disclose in the application process, which Salary provided for one position is - either specifically or as a salary range. This information must be available before the interview at the latest. At the same time, companies are prohibited from asking applicants about their previous salary.

This is a decisive advantage for employees: salary negotiations become more transparent and existing inequalities can no longer continue unnoticed.

New right to information for employees

A central component of the reform is the individual right to information. In future, employees will be able to request information from their employer about their own salary and the average salaries of comparable jobs. broken down by gender in each case.

This information must be provided within two months. Employers are also obliged to regularly inform their employees about this right.

Reporting obligations and monitoring the wage structure

For companies with at least 100 employees will apply in future Extensive reporting obligations. They must regularly disclose whether and to what extent there are gender-specific salary differences.

If a pay gap of more than five percent is identified, employers are obliged to carry out a pay assessment together with employee representatives and eliminate the causes.

Better enforcement of claims

The new regulation also strengthens the position of employees in court. In future, the burden of proof will be eased: it is no longer the employee who has to prove pay discrimination, but the employer who must prove that there is no discrimination.

In addition, compensation and back-payment claims are expressly provided for in the event of unequal pay.

More rights - but also a need for action

Salary transparency from 2026 will bring significantly more clarity and better legal options for employees. At the same time, however, the complexity for employers will also increase - and with it the number of potential disputes.

Legal advice is recommended at an early stage, especially when it comes to claims for information, salary differences or suspected discrimination. The law firm Haas und Kollegen supports employees and employers in checking their rights and implementing them in a legally secure manner.