Pay transparency before recruitment
Directive 2023/970 requires information on starting pay and prohibits questions about previous salaries. Publishing pay in the job advert is one option, not the only permitted way to communicate it.
Article 5 requires applicants to receive the starting pay or pay range, based on objective, gender-neutral criteria, along with the relevant collective agreement provisions. The information must allow informed negotiation, for example through the job advert or before the interview. Prepare a documented pay range for each role.
The text prohibits asking about pay history and requires gender-neutral job adverts and titles. Remove these questions from forms and interview scripts. Article 34 sets the transposition deadline at 7 juin 2026. For the Belgian situation, see the entry eu-transparence-salariale-transposition-belge. This deadline alone does not establish that a Belgian law applies to all private employers.