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Pay transparency in France

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.

France has not yet passed a law to implement the EU Pay Transparency Directive. The country is at an advanced stage of official preparation, but the text itself has not been published or confirmed.

What is confirmed is that an unpublished draft bill, known as an avant-projet, was reported to the Assemblée nationale as having been sent to social partners on 6 March 2026. That same parliamentary record describes proposed features such as a 50-employee reporting threshold and pay ranges in job advertisements, but these remain proposals, not obligations. A separate government response to the Senate on 18 June 2026 said consultations were nearing completion and that the bill could then move to the Conseil d’État and Parliament, though a formal transmission has not been confirmed from a primary source.

While this plays out, France’s existing Professional Equality Index stays in force. It already applies annually to employers with at least 50 employees, and France’s overall approach is described as stricter than the EU baseline.

The measure

Law or measure
Advanced official preparation for a transposition bill; an unpublished avant-projet was reported in the Assemblée nationale as circulated to social partners on 6 March 2026; existing Professional Equality Index remains in force
Core obligations start
Pending
Who is covered
Pending bill is intended for public and private sectors; existing Index applies to employers with at least 50 employees

What the law requires

3 further dimensions are still being verified against official sources.

How France differs from the Directive

Official parliamentary records show advanced preparation: an Assemblée nationale written question reports an avant-projet sent to social partners on 6 March 2026 and describes a proposed 50-employee reporting threshold and pay ranges in job ads. The draft text itself is not publicly validated, so these features are not treated as settled obligations.

On at least one point the national rules go beyond the Directive minimum, so preparing to the EU baseline alone is not enough here.

What this means for employers

For now, your obligations in France come from the existing Professional Equality Index, not from the Directive itself. If you employ 50 or more people in France, you should already be filing this annually. Directive-specific dates, thresholds, and reporting metrics remain pending, and France’s reporting scope is described as different or modified from the Directive’s standard metrics, so treat any new requirement as unconfirmed until it is formally published.

  • Keep your Equality Index filings current for any French entity with 50 or more employees. This obligation is already in force and does not depend on the Directive’s timeline.
  • Do not build compliance processes around the draft bill’s proposed features, such as pay ranges in job ads or a 50-employee threshold, since these are proposals reported in parliamentary records, not settled law.
  • Treat employee pay information rights, salary range disclosure, and salary history rules as not yet defined for France. None of these have been confirmed, so avoid assuming a specific policy applies.
  • Watch for the bill’s formal publication or transmission to the Conseil d’État and Parliament, since this is the next concrete milestone to track.
  • Expect the Ministry of Labour, DREETS, and labour inspection to remain the relevant authorities, with the Defender of Rights as the equality body, once obligations are formalised.

Enforcement and open questions

Competent authority
Ministry of Labour; DREETS and labour inspection
Equality body
Defender of Rights
What could still change
Official preparation is advanced but the legal text remains unpublished. The Senate government response of 18 June 2026 says consultations were nearing completion and the bill could then be transmitted to the Conseil d'État and Parliament; a completed transmission has not been validated from a primary source.

Common questions

Has France passed a law to implement the EU Pay Transparency Directive?

No. France is at an official preparation stage, and the transposition text has not been published. A draft bill was reported as circulated to social partners on 6 March 2026, but it is not yet law.

What do French employers currently have to do on pay transparency?

Right now, the binding requirement is the existing Professional Equality Index, which applies annually to employers with at least 50 employees. Directive-specific obligations and dates are still pending and have not been set.

Does the French draft bill include pay ranges in job adverts or an employee right to pay information?

A parliamentary record describes proposed pay ranges in job ads as part of the unpublished draft bill, but this is not confirmed as law. Whether employees will have a formal right to request pay information, and whether salary history questions will be restricted, has not yet been defined.

When will France's Pay Transparency Directive rules take effect?

There is no confirmed start date. The start of any Directive-specific core obligations is listed as pending, and reporting deadlines for both larger and smaller employers depend on the existing Index while Directive-specific dates remain unresolved.

Will France's reporting rules match the Directive's standard metrics?

France's reporting metrics scope is described as different or modified rather than matching the Directive's seven core metrics exactly. The specifics have not been finalised in a published text.

Who oversees pay transparency compliance in France?

The Ministry of Labour, along with DREETS and labour inspection, are the competent authorities. The Defender of Rights serves as the national equality body.

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.