{"id":43278,"date":"2026-01-28T16:06:46","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T14:06:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/2b-advice.com\/?p=43278"},"modified":"2026-04-14T14:39:46","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T12:39:46","slug":"pay-transparency-directive-and-data-protection-new-requirements-for-companies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/2b-advice.com\/en\/2026\/01\/28\/entgelttransparenzrichtlinie-und-datenschutz-neue-anforderungen-an-unternehmen\/","title":{"rendered":"Pay Transparency Directive and data protection: new requirements for companies"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Aristotelis Zervos\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Aristotelis Zervos, Editorial Director at 2B Advice, combines legal and journalistic expertise in Data protection<\/a>IT compliance and AI regulation.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The Pay Transparency Directive (EU) 2023\/970 imposes new obligations on companies in Germany until its implementation on June 7, 2026 at the latest. These include the right to information on pay and comparative values, transparency reports and, where applicable, joint pay assessments. At the same time, pay data is personal information. This article shows where the directive is problematic in terms of data protection law and how companies can prepare GDPR-compliant information, reporting and access concepts now.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Background and implementation of the EU Pay Transparency Directive<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The EU Pay Transparency Directive (Directive (EU) 2023\/970) came into force on June 6, 2023. The aim of the directive is to enforce the principle of \u201eequal pay for equal work or work of equal value\u201c more effectively and to reduce the gender pay gap. Germany is obliged to transpose the directive into national law by June 7, 2026 at the latest. Accordingly, an amendment to the German Pay Transparency Act (EntgTranspG) is expected by this date. A commission of experts presented proposals for implementation back in November 2025 and the legislative process is expected to start at the beginning of 2026.<\/p>

Note:<\/strong> The specific scope of obligations may still change before implementation. The German legislator must decide, among other things, how exactly the requirements of the Directive will be implemented at national level. For example, whether a minimum size of peer groups (analogous to the current 6-person limit in the EntgTranspG) will be retained and in what form Art. 12 (3) of the Directive will be implemented. However, companies should already start looking at the upcoming new regulations now, as extensive adjustments to remuneration systems and internal processes will be necessary.<\/p>

The controversial aspect of these regulations in terms of data protection is that they require a high level of transparency regarding salaries. A topic that has often been treated confidentially to date. Employers have to collect and evaluate considerable amounts of personal pay data and pass it on to third parties (employees, works council, authorities): This must be done in compliance with data protection regulations.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Tension between pay transparency and data protection<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The Directive expressly emphasizes in Art. 12 (1) that any collection, processing and disclosure of information within the scope of Art. 7, 9 and 10 must be carried out in accordance with the GDPR. Basic principles of data protection law therefore also apply without restriction to the implementation of pay transparency measures.<\/p>

Remuneration data is personal data. This is not only the case if the name of an employee is mentioned directly. Even seemingly anonymous information can be indirectly personal. For example, if the individual can be identified on the basis of a small peer group or other contextual information. Since the Directive, unlike the current EntgTranspG, does not stipulate a minimum size for comparison groups, the average comparative salary can reveal the individual salary of a person, particularly in the case of very small comparison groups. Example: If a male employee asks about the average salary of the women in his small peer group and there is only one woman in that group, the information would reveal her salary. The German legislator was already aware of this risk in the previous law: Section 12 (3) sentence 2 EntgTranspG stipulates that no comparative salary is to be disclosed if the comparative activity is carried out by fewer than six employees of the opposite sex. This protective clause prevents the identification of individual salaries. However, it also means that the right to information often comes to nothing in small companies.<\/p>

Although the EU Directive now dispenses with rigid thresholds, it does provide an instrument to mitigate this tension in Art. 12 Para. 3 of the Remuneration Transparency Directive. Accordingly, member states can provide that in cases of imminent indirect disclosure of individual salaries, the sensitive pay information is not given directly to the requesting employee, but only to an intermediary body. This can be the works council, the supervisory authority or the equality body. These bodies should then advise the employee on their rights without disclosing the specific pay levels. This would inform the person concerned about possible claims (e.g. due to discrimination), but at the same time the salary of the comparator would remain protected.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Earmarking for salary data<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The Directive also contains a clear purpose limitation in Art. 12 Para. 2: Personal data collected as part of the transparency measures may only be used to enforce the principle of equality. Further processing of this data for other purposes that are incompatible with pay transparency (e.g. general salary benchmarking analyses that go beyond the prescribed scope) is not permitted.<\/p>

Companies should therefore ensure that they do not misuse fee data collected for information or reports for other purposes.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Important requirements of the Pay Transparency Directive with reference to data protection<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The Pay Transparency Directive contains several transparency and reporting obligations that require the processing of employees' pay data. The following requirements in particular are in conflict with data protection:<\/p>