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Pay transparency in Austria

In preparation Last verified 7 August 2026 High confidence

  • Pay information requests Pending

    Employees can ask for their own pay level and the averages for colleagues doing equal or equal-value work, broken down by sex.

Austria’s move on the EU Pay Transparency Directive is a partial one so far. The country has enacted only one piece of it: the public procurement consequences described in Article 24 of the Directive. The core employer-facing rules, the ones that would set out pay information rights, reporting, and joint pay assessments, are still being prepared.

The enacted measure is the Vergaberechtsgesetz 2026. Its official explanatory memorandum describes it as implementing Article 24, meaning it deals with procurement-related consequences, not the Directive’s broader employment-law package.

For HR and compensation teams, this means the practical questions, whether employees will get a right to pay information, whether job postings will need salary ranges, and whether salary history questions will be restricted, have not been defined yet. Austria has taken a narrow first step, not the full transposition.

The measure

Law or measure
Directive (EU) 2023/970 Article 24 public-procurement consequences implemented through Vergaberechtsgesetz 2026; core employment-law transposition pending
Core obligations start
Procurement provisions in force; core employer obligations pending
Who is covered
Procurement amendment adopted; general public/private employment obligations remain pending

What the law requires

We are still verifying the detailed requirements against official sources. The confirmed facts appear in the summary above and under Sources.

How Austria differs from the Directive

Only the Directive's public-procurement limb is implemented; core recruitment, employee-information, reporting, joint-pay-assessment and remedies provisions remain pending.

What this means for employers

Because only the procurement limb is in force, Austrian employers do not yet face binding pay transparency duties from this measure. The Vergaberechtsgesetz 2026 changes affect public contracting processes, not everyday HR practices like job postings, pay bands, or gap reporting. Treat it as a sign that Austria is moving toward fuller transposition, not as something that changes your day-to-day obligations right now.

  • Watch for the employment-law bill: the next milestone is publication of the core employment-law transposition bill, which will set out the actual rules on pay information, salary ranges, and reporting.
  • Don’t over-read the procurement amendment: it implements Article 24 only and does not activate employer-facing pay transparency duties like reporting or joint pay assessments.
  • Keep the existing equal-treatment framework in view: it continues to apply in Austria alongside the new procurement rules.
  • Plan for guidance, not deadlines yet: follow updates from the Federal Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection, which is the competent authority.

Enforcement and open questions

Competent authority
Federal Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection; procurement authorities for the procurement limb
Equality body
Ombud for Equal Treatment (Gleichbehandlungsanwaltschaft)
What could still change
The official explanatory memorandum expressly treats the BVergG changes as implementation of Directive Article 24. This is a narrow procurement measure, not core employment-law transposition.

Common questions

Has Austria implemented the EU Pay Transparency Directive?

Only partly. Austria has enacted the Vergaberechtsgesetz 2026, which implements Article 24 of the Directive, covering public-procurement consequences. The core employment-law obligations, including pay information rights, salary ranges, and reporting, have not yet been transposed.

Do Austrian employers have to comply with pay transparency rules yet?

Not from this measure. The enacted provisions apply to public procurement, not to general employer obligations. There is currently no reporting model or compliance deadline in place for employers generally.

What is the Vergaberechtsgesetz 2026?

It is the Austrian law that brought Article 24 of the EU Pay Transparency Directive into force, dealing with procurement-related consequences. Its official explanatory memorandum describes it as implementing that specific Directive article, not the Directive's broader employment-law package.

Which Austrian authority oversees pay transparency?

The Federal Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection is the competent authority, with procurement authorities handling the procurement limb specifically. The Ombud for Equal Treatment, the Gleichbehandlungsanwaltschaft, is Austria's equality body.

What should Austrian employers watch for next?

The next milestone is publication of the core employment-law transposition bill. Until that appears, employers should not treat the procurement amendments as activating pay transparency duties such as employee pay information rights or gap reporting.

Author

Julius Aho

Co-founder, CTO

Julius Aho is the co-founder and CTO of Evenpay. At Evenpay he is responsible for product, engineering and AI, building the tools that make fair pay the default.