The Pay Transparency Directive – Stop the clock: a prerequisite for simplification

Introduction

BusinessEurope calls for a “Stop the Clock” regarding the transposition of the Pay Transparency Directive (PTD). Additional time is required to ensure a proportionate, coherent and workable implementation for both Member States and employers, while also allowing for the identification and consideration of potential simplification measures.

Given that the current transposition deadline is 7 June 2026, BusinessEurope members urge the colegislators to grant a two-year extension. Such an extension would provide Member States and employers with adequate time to adapt systems, procedures and legislation to the requirements of the Directive, ensuring a proportionate and effective transposition across the EU.

In this context, BusinessEurope proposes a targeted set of amendments aimed at ensuring that the Directive can be implemented in a proportionate, operational and legally coherent manner. The proposed amendments come in two parts, namely, 1. Collective Bargaining – Presumption of Compliance and 2. Other Simplification Priorities. The former covers amendments that accommodate preexisting industrial relations infrastructures to avoid duplication and disproportionate burdens for companies already subject to well defined requirements due to their adherence to collective agreements covering similar issues. The latter presents further amendments that are essential to making the directive operational for all companies, including those that do not adhere to collective agreements.