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Pay transparency in Netherlands

Published draft 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.

The Netherlands has a published draft bill in progress to implement the EU Pay Transparency Directive, plus an implementing regulation that is still under consultation. Nothing here is law yet: the bill, known as dossier 36 949, is pending in parliament, and the rules could still change before they take effect.

The government’s current plan points to core employer obligations starting on 1 January 2027, but this date is proposed, not confirmed. Until the bill passes, employers in the Netherlands are not yet bound by any Directive-specific pay transparency duties.

The explanatory memorandum sets out a staggered reporting timeline: employers with at least 150 workers would report first, followed later by employers with 100 to 149 workers. Both dates sit years ahead, but the groundwork for meeting them starts well before the deadline.

The measure

Law or measure
Bill implementing Directive (EU) 2023/970 on pay transparency; implementing regulation under consultation
Core obligations start
1 Jan 2027 (proposed)
Who is covered
Proposed rules cover public and private employment; reporting begins at 100 employees

What the law requires

  • Joint pay assessment at a 5.0% gap

3 further dimensions are still being verified against official sources.

How Netherlands differs from the Directive

Government bill dossier 36 949 is pending. The explanatory memorandum proposes first reporting in 2028 for employers with at least 150 workers and in 2031 for employers with 100-149 workers.

What this means for employers

Because the bill is still a draft, several details that matter for planning, including the employee pay information right, salary range rules and any salary history ban, are not yet defined for the Netherlands. That is not a gap in this tracker, it reflects where the legislation itself currently stands. What is known is that a gender pay gap of 5.0% is the proposed trigger for a joint pay assessment, and that reporting would be employer-calculated rather than government-calculated.

  • Watch the bill’s progress through parliament, since the proposed obligations and dates could shift with amendments.
  • Follow the implementing regulation, which entered consultation in July 2026 and will fill in operational detail once finalised.
  • Start building proposed controls for recruitment pay information, employee pay information requests, gender pay gap reporting and joint pay assessments, even while the rules are not final.
  • Map your workforce size against the proposed 150-plus and 100-149 employee bands, since your first reporting date would depend on which one you fall into.

None of this guarantees compliance once the law is finalised, but preparing early helps you avoid a scramble when the bill is enacted.

Enforcement and open questions

Competent authority
Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment; Netherlands Labour Authority
Equality body
Netherlands Institute for Human Rights
What could still change
The bill is not enacted. Proposed commencement and reporting arrangements remain subject to parliamentary approval; the implementing regulation entered internet consultation in July 2026.

Common questions

Has the Netherlands passed the EU Pay Transparency Directive into national law?

Not yet. The Netherlands has a published draft bill, known as dossier 36 949, which is still pending in parliament, and an implementing regulation that is under consultation. Until the bill is enacted, its employer obligations remain proposed rather than binding.

When would pay transparency obligations start for employers in the Netherlands?

The government's proposal points to 1 January 2027 for core obligations, but this date is not yet confirmed since the bill has not passed. Reporting deadlines are staggered separately by employer size.

Which employers would need to report gender pay gap data in the Netherlands?

Under the current proposal, employers with at least 150 workers would report first, with data due by 7 June 2028 covering 2027. Employers with 100 to 149 workers would follow, with data due by 7 June 2031 covering 2030.

What triggers a joint pay assessment under the Dutch proposal?

The proposed threshold is a gender pay gap of 5.0%. This figure comes from the draft legislation and could still change before the bill is finalised.

Who would oversee pay transparency rules in the Netherlands?

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment and the Netherlands Labour Authority are named as the competent authorities. The Netherlands Institute for Human Rights is the designated 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.