EU pay transparency rules for salary ranges in job ads

According to EURES, Directive (EU) 2023/970 requires employers in the EU, from June 2026, to give the salary range for a vacancy in the job advert or before the first interview. EURES also states that employers may no longer ask about past salaries. Each rule applies through the national law of the country of work.

A welding vacancy that breaches two rules

A job advert for a welder states a competitive salary and no figure. At the interview, the employer asks the candidate what the last job paid. Under the rules EURES describes, both steps are now breaches: the range was not given before the first interview, and the pay history question is barred.

The same vacancy written correctly states a range, for example a lower and an upper gross monthly figure, set from objective criteria for the role: the skills, the certification level, the shift pattern and the collective agreement or minimum wage that applies. The interviewer then discusses where the candidate sits in that range, without reference to previous pay.

What changed and who is affected

Directive (EU) 2023/970 strengthens the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value between men and women. EURES gives June 2026 as the start of the recruitment rules. The obligations reach employers through national law, so the exact wording, the sanctions and the enforcing authority differ by country, while the core recruitment rules are the same everywhere.

The recruitment rules apply regardless of company size. A small workshop hiring one welder carries the same recruitment duty as a group with thousands of staff. Size matters only for the pay gap reporting, whose timetable is set in each national law.

Cross border recruitment

The directive applies to recruitment into an EU workplace, so it covers vacancies filled by third country nationals as well as by EU citizens. For an employer recruiting abroad, the range in the advert must match the pay in the employment contract and in the work permit application. A range that differs from the contract figure creates two problems at once: a pay transparency question and a mismatch in the permit file.

The range also has to sit at or above the statutory floor in the country of work. The guides on the Croatian employment contract and minimum wage for foreign workers and on the German minimum wage and working time records set out the floors for two of the main destination markets. EURES Advisers give employers information on cross border hiring, country specific employment conditions and recruitment practice.

Recruitment checklist

1. Set a gross range for each vacancy from objective criteria and record how it was set.
2. Publish the range in the advert, or give it in writing before the first interview.
3. Remove pay history questions from application forms, interview guides and agency briefs.
4. Check that the range matches the contract and, for third country nationals, the permit application.
5. For companies with at least 100 employees, prepare the pay gap information and check the reporting date in the national law.
6. Confirm the national transposing law in each country where the company recruits.

Agencies and recruiters acting for an employer should receive the same instructions, since a pay history question asked by an intermediary is asked on the employer's behalf. Vacancies with a stated range can be published on the job board.