In this article:
- How does the Pay Transparency Directive change recruitment practices?
- How must pay be disclosed during recruitment?
- Starting salary or pay range?
- Can you still ask candidates about their salary expectations?
- What you can’t do during recruitment
- Keep these things in mind for internal recruitment too
- The directive’s goal: address pay gaps before they emerge
- Recruitment checklist in the pay transparency era: do’s & don’ts
How does the Pay Transparency Directive change recruitment practices?
Under the directive, pay has to be discussed more openly and earlier in the process. Employers are required to tell candidates the salary or pay range for the role during recruitment. Salary negotiations can no longer rest on uneven information, the candidate’s previous pay level, or their negotiating power. Pay talks must be grounded in open, objective information about the role’s pay level.
How must pay be disclosed during recruitment?
You don’t necessarily have to publish the salary or pay range in the job ad, but it’s often the simplest way to meet the directive’s requirements. What matters is that every candidate receives the pay information fairly and at the latest before salary negotiations begin. The information can also be shared with candidates in a separate message, as long as it’s delivered in time. The point is to make sure every candidate has a fair chance to negotiate.
If the pay information is given later in the process, the employer must be able to show that it was delivered to all candidates consistently, in good time, and on the same terms. It must also be documented. The further a recruitment process goes without an open pay conversation, the higher the risk that practices look inconsistent — or even discriminatory. That’s why publishing the salary or pay range in the job ad is often the clearest and lowest-risk way to meet the directive’s obligations.
Starting salary or pay range?
The legislation requires that candidates be told either the role’s starting salary or a pay range. Sharing the starting salary works well for roles where the level of the job is clearly defined and there’s little variation in pay. Many junior-level roles and jobs where a collective agreement sets a strong baseline fall into this category. A starting salary gives an unambiguous reference point and leaves no room for interpretation.
For specialist and leadership roles, a pay range usually fits better. In these roles, the complexity of the work, the level of responsibility, and the required expertise can vary a lot. What matters is that the range isn’t arbitrary. It has to be based on pre-defined, objective, and gender-neutral criteria — such as job levels, responsibilities, and skill requirements.
Can you still ask candidates about their salary expectations?
Many employers are wondering what they can and can’t do or ask during recruitment. The employer’s obligation is to disclose the salary or pay range, but can you still ask the candidate what they’re hoping to earn? Yes, you can — the directive doesn’t forbid it. The employer just has to share the salary or pay range first, or at the latest before salary negotiations begin. Asking about expectations also doesn’t remove the employer’s duty to base pay on objective criteria.
What you can’t do during recruitment
During recruitment, you’re no longer allowed to ask about a candidate’s previous pay. Salary conversations must focus on the specific role and its criteria. The pay range — and therefore the salary negotiation itself — must be based on objective criteria. Pay negotiations have to happen within a clear framework where the outcome doesn’t depend on how confident the candidate is, but on the demands of the role.
Job titles also need to be gender-neutral during recruitment. Under the directive, job ads must use gender-neutral titles. It’s also strongly recommended that organizations use consistent, gender-neutral job titles internally for the same work. This makes reporting and other administrative work much easier.
Keep these things in mind for internal recruitment too
The directive’s obligations apply to recruitment situations even when the candidate is an existing employee applying for a different role inside the company or organization. In that case too, they have the right to know the starting salary or pay range for the new role — just like any external candidate.
The Pay Transparency Directive’s goal: address pay gaps before they emerge
Many pay gaps form quietly at the very beginning of the employment relationship. Few employers knowingly pay people differently based on gender, for example — and yet gaps still appear when the underlying structures are missing.
If pay is set within a wide range and the final level is determined by the negotiation itself, the salary ends up reflecting negotiating behavior rather than the complexity of the role and how well the candidate’s skills match it. Research and everyday observation show that men, on average, negotiate more aggressively and more often push for the top end of a pay range than women do. When the same pattern repeats from one hire to the next, pay gaps start to accumulate.
The directive’s aim is to address pay gaps before they ever have a chance to form. That’s why recruitment structures are being built with transparency in mind, and negotiations have to be based on objective information.
Recruitment checklist in the pay transparency era: do’s & don’ts
When you prepare for the directive well in advance, meeting its obligations becomes much easier. Build your recruitment process so that it satisfies the directive’s criteria by default, and you’ll prevent pay gaps from forming while automatically meeting your legal obligations.
DO THIS:
- Share the pay range early: include the pay range or starting salary in the job ad, or deliver it equally to all candidates no later than before the interview.
- Base pay on facts: define the pay range in advance using objective, gender-neutral criteria (for example, the complexity and responsibilities of the role).
- Document the process: make sure you can show, if asked, how and when pay information was shared with candidates on equal terms.
- Use gender-neutral job titles: update gendered job titles at least in your job ads. Ideally, standardize them internally too — it makes reporting and admin work much simpler.
AVOID THESE:
- Don’t ask about previous pay: a candidate’s current or past salary no longer belongs in pay conversations.
- Don’t pull pay ranges out of thin air: the range must be based on pre-defined, objective criteria such as responsibilities and skill requirements.
- Don’t let negotiating skills decide the outcome: final pay should reflect the candidate’s skills relative to the demands of the role — not who’s the toughest negotiator.
Did you know that software can make preparing for the Pay Transparency Directive — and meeting its obligations — much easier? Evenpay brings HR and pay data together and produces clear, data-driven, defensible pay recommendations.
If you’d like support on how to build pay ranges and job levels that hold up to the directive’s scrutiny in your organization, schedule a free 30-minute demo of Evenpay and we’ll walk you through it.
