What does that say about the ethical standards in our society?
Astrid Kunze
Pay Transparency Directive: EU countries miss the deadline
The principle of equal pay for equal work has existed for a long time. But what good is it if employees do not have enough information to know whether they are actually being treated unfairly?
The EU’s recent Pay Transparency Directive introduces new obligations for employers and new rights for job applicants and employees. Employers will be prohibited from asking about previous pay during recruitment processes and pay must be stated in job advertisements. Employees will also be entitled to request information about pay levels. This means that employers must also provide figures showing the average pay gap between women and men in the organisation.
The deadline for transposing the Pay Transparency Directive in the 27 EU countries expired on 7 June 2026, but very few countries have met the requirements. Only ten countries have started legislative processes at various stages, including Denmark, France, Italy and the Netherlands.
According to the latest EU statistics from 2024, women in the EU earn, on average, 11.1 per cent less per hour than men. The gender pay gap varies considerably between countries. The fact that women earn less than men has major implications for household income and for women’s pensions in old age. And if parts of the pay gap are due to women and men being treated differently in working life, what does that say about the ethical standards in our society?
The tax race is not over
The global minimum tax was meant to curb profit shifting. But for many companies, it has primarily become something else: a new and complex reporting system.
The purpose of the new rules is to ensure that women and men receive equal pay for equal work, or for work of equal value.
The Directive will therefore not only create new rights for employees, but also new reporting obligations for employers. The key question is how this will work in practice:
Can greater pay transparency actually help reduce the pay gap between women and men?
Can greater pay transparency help reduce the pay gap between women and men?
Astrid Kunze
How the rules are designed and enforced will be crucial. Each country must prepare a legislative proposal to be adopted by its national parliament. At the same time, research shows that pay transparency can contribute to greater pay equality between women and men. Although legislation before 2026 imposed weaker requirements on employers, there are interesting findings on the possible positive effects of stricter requirements.
In 2006, Denmark introduced pay transparency requirements for companies with 35 employees or more. It is not obvious that such a reform would reduce pay differences in a country with a high degree of gender equality. Researchers have therefore examined whether companies covered by the law saw a reduction in the gender pay gap.
It is worth considering whether this pays off for businesses.
Astrid Kunze
They compared companies covered by the law with companies that were just too small to be included — that is, companies with 34 employees or fewer. The study is based on Danish register data on individuals’ pay over time and their employment relationships.
The study suggests that, after the pay transparency law came into force, men received slightly lower pay increases than women, even though they were otherwise fairly similar. The researchers also find that the companies recruited more women, suggesting that the supply side responded to increased transparency, and that more women were promoted.
World Cup: 100,000 simulations reveal Norway’s chances of winning
Norway has a 70 percent chance of advancing from the group stage, according to new mathematical calculations.
Other studies have examined earlier pay transparency legislation in the United Kingdom and Austria, and have also partly found a reduction in the gender pay gap. Another study from Austria found no effects of greater transparency through the publication of pay in job advertisements on which jobs women apply for or on the gender pay gap.
It is interesting to consider whether this pays off for companies. When the pay gap narrows because overpaid men receive lower pay growth, total personnel costs may fall. At the same time, such a reform is not without costs for companies, as it may involve considerable reporting and administrative costs.
Sweden is also among the countries that have failed to meet the deadline and has instead decided to postpone its legislative proposal until 2027. The Swedish government has expressed concern that the Directive is too administratively burdensome and risks undermining well-established systems for wage formation.
What does this mean for Norway? Norway is not a member of the EU, and the deadline in the Directive therefore does not apply here. So far, the Pay Transparency Directive is not part of the EEA Agreement either. Nevertheless, Norway is expected eventually to introduce corresponding rules. Norwegian companies that want to be prepared should therefore follow developments already now.
Norwegian businesses that want to be prepared should therefore follow developments already now.
Astrid Kunze
The Directive applies to both public and private employers. The extent of the reporting requirements depends on the size of the organisation. The largest companies must report every year, while smaller organisations will be required to report less frequently. If the pay gap between women and men exceeds 5 per cent and cannot be objectively justified, the employer must examine the difference more closely.
Norway already has rules on equality and reporting through the activity and reporting obligations. But the EU Directive goes further. It is likely to give employees a stronger right to information about pay and make reporting more consistent across organisations. For employees, this is about being able to know whether their pay is fair. For employers, it is about being able to explain pay differences in an open and orderly way.
The article was first published in Altinget on 23 June 2026.