Overview
- Germany failed to transpose the EU Entgelttransparenzrichtlinie by Sunday, June 7, 2026, exposing Berlin to a possible infringement case from the European Commission and potential fines.
- The directive already has direct effect for public employers so state employees can invoke new information rights now while courts and regulators must interpret private‑sector law in line with the EU rules.
- Key obligations in the directive require employers to publish pay ranges in job ads, ban questions about applicants’ pay history, and give workers a right to request average pay data for comparable roles.
- The law sets gender pay‑gap reporting and remediation duties for larger firms—reporting kicks in at 150 employees now and 100 from 2031, a gap over 5% without objective justification triggers mandatory measures, and affected workers may claim full back pay going back as far as ten years.
- The federal government says it will implement a 'bureaucracy‑light' national law by early 2027; meanwhile businesses are preparing processes and workers and unions are watching for enforcement, litigation and potential retroactive pay claims.