The EU Pay Transparency Directive is quickly moving from policy discussion to operational reality.
But how prepared are organisations really?
During a recent webinar on the directive, we asked more than 500 HR professionals and business leaders to share where their organisations currently stand.
The results were revealing.
Most organisations are not fully prepared yet.
While awareness of the directive is clearly high, very few organisations believe they are fully ready.
Our poll showed:
- 51% are actively preparing
- 41% are aware but have not yet begun preparing
- Only 3% say they are fully prepared
In other words, most organisations recognise the importance of the directive – but many are still in the early stages of readiness.
Salary transparency still isn’t the norm
One of the key requirements under the directive is salary transparency during recruitment.
Yet our results suggest many organisations will need to change their current practices.
When asked whether salary ranges are included in job advertisements:
- 46% said no
- 35% said sometimes
- 19% said yes
This means nearly half of employers are not currently publishing salary ranges at all.
Pay structures may be the biggest gap
Perhaps the most telling insight from the poll was around internal pay frameworks.
Only 26% of respondents said their organisation has a clearly defined pay structure across the business.
Meanwhile:
- 43% said pay structures exist only in some areas
- 30% said they have no defined pay banding system
Without clear pay frameworks, demonstrating pay equity and responding to employee questions about pay transparency could become significantly more challenging.
Encouraging progress on pay gap analysis
There are some positive signs.
A majority of organisations are already reviewing pay equity data, with 65% saying they conducted a gender pay gap analysis within the past year.
However, 17% of organisations have never carried out such an analysis, highlighting that some employers are still at an earlier stage of pay transparency readiness.
What concerns organisations most?
When asked about the biggest challenges ahead, respondents pointed to structural change rather than compliance alone.
The top concern was job evaluation and pay structures (61%), followed by:
- Internal employee communication (42%)
- Legal and compliance risk (42%)
- Pay gap reporting requirements (36%)
- Data and HR systems capability (27%)
In short, the directive isn’t just about reporting – it’s about how organisations design, manage and communicate pay.
The real work starts now
The poll results highlight an important reality: awareness of the EU Pay Transparency Directive is strong, but readiness varies significantly.
For many organisations, the coming months will involve reviewing pay frameworks, improving data visibility and building more transparent approaches to pay.
And as the directive moves closer to implementation, the organisations that start preparing now will likely find themselves in a much stronger position.
