Key facts
- Transposition: the Directive had to be transposed by 7 June 2026; no bill had been tabled in the Chamber of Deputies on 5 October 2026.
- Recruitment: starting pay or its range given to candidates, and a ban on asking about their pay history (Article 5 of the Directive).
- Right to information: a written reply within 2 months on the employee's pay level and the average levels, by sex, for their category (Article 7).
- Reports: by 7 June 2027 from 150 employees (2026 data), by 7 June 2031 for 100 to 149 employees (Article 9).
- 5% gap: if unjustified and not corrected within 6 months, it triggers a joint pay assessment with employee representatives (Article 10).
- Already in force: equal pay for work of equal value (Article L.225-1 of the Labour Code), fine of €251 to €25,000, statistics by sex every six months.
Pay transparency in Luxembourg: where does transposition stand?
Directive (EU) 2023/970 of 10 May 2023 strengthens equal pay between women and men through pay transparency. Member States had to transpose it by 7 June 2026. In Luxembourg, no bill had been tabled in the Chamber of Deputies on 5 October 2026: the deadline passed without a national law.
On 24 June 2026, questioned in the Labour Committee, the Minister of Labour said that consultations would continue so that a bill could be presented after consultation with the social partners, and that the Directive should be on the agenda of the next Standing Committee on Labour and Employment (Comité permanent du travail et de l'emploi, CPTE). Several national choices therefore remain unknown:
- a possible exemption for employers with fewer than 50 employees from the pay progression criteria;
- any reporting obligations below 100 employees;
- the monitoring body, the level of fines and the method for counting headcount;
- how it will fit with the equal pay rules already in the Labour Code.
The Directive's obligations and deadlines, on the other hand, are known. They cover public and private employers, all workers with an employment contract or relationship, and job candidates. Pay includes basic salary and any other benefit, in cash or in kind (bonuses, variable components, company car); the pay level is expressed as gross annual and gross hourly pay.
What obligations does the Directive place on employers?
| Obligation | What the employer does | Article |
|---|---|---|
| Pay structures | Compare the value of jobs using objective, gender-neutral criteria (skills, effort, responsibility, working conditions), agreed with employee representatives where there are any | Art. 4 |
| Transparency before hiring | Give candidates the starting pay or its range and the relevant collective agreement provisions, for example in the job advert or before the interview; do not ask about their pay history; use gender-neutral job adverts and titles | Art. 5 |
| Accessible criteria | Make available to employees the criteria used to set pay, pay levels and pay progression (possible exemption for progression below 50 employees) | Art. 6 |
| Right to information | Reply in writing, within 2 months at most, to an employee's request about their pay level and the average levels, by sex, for their category; inform all employees of this right every year | Art. 7 |
| Freedom to discuss pay | Remove clauses that stop an employee from disclosing their pay | Art. 7 |
| Pay gap report | Calculate and submit the gap indicators, according to headcount | Art. 9 |
| Joint pay assessment | Analyse and correct, with employee representatives, an unjustified gap of at least 5% | Art. 10 |
Personal data processed for these obligations falls under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and may only be used for equal pay. Member States may restrict to employee representatives, the labour inspectorate or the equality body any data that would reveal the pay of an identifiable person.
Gender pay gap report: who, when and which indicators?
The report always covers the previous calendar year: the one due by 7 June 2027 therefore covers 2026 pay.
| Headcount | First report | Then |
|---|---|---|
| 250 employees or more | By 7 June 2027 (2026 data) | Every year |
| 150 to 249 employees | By 7 June 2027 (2026 data) | Every 3 years |
| 100 to 149 employees | By 7 June 2031 (2030 data) | Every 3 years |
| Fewer than 100 employees | Voluntary, unless the country decides otherwise | Under national law |
The indicators are the mean and median gap, the same gaps for variable or complementary components, the proportion of women and men receiving them, the distribution by quartile and the gap by category of workers, broken down between basic pay and variable components. Management confirms their accuracy after consulting employee representatives, and the gap by category is given to all employees and their representatives. At the request of the labour inspectorate or the equality body, the employer also provides this data for the previous 4 years, where available.
Example: in a category of customer advisers (same work or work of equal value), average gross hourly pay is €25.00 for men and €23.50 for women. The gap is €1.50, or 6% of the men's average: the Directive expresses the gap as a percentage of male workers' average pay level (Article 3). From 5%, the employer must justify the gap with objective, gender-neutral criteria or correct it within 6 months of reporting the data; otherwise, it carries out a joint pay assessment with employee representatives. The assessment looks in particular at pay rises granted on return from maternity, paternity, parental or carers' leave.
Equal pay: what the Labour Code already requires
Without waiting for transposition, the Labour Code requires every employer to ensure equal pay between women and men for the same work or work of equal value (Article L.225-1, Law of 15 December 2016). Pay covers basic salary and any other benefit, in cash or in kind (Article L.225-2).
- Equal value: work that requires a comparable set of professional knowledge (certificate, diploma or practice), abilities gained from experience, responsibilities and physical or mental strain. Job categories, classification and promotion criteria and job evaluation methods must be common to both sexes (Article L.225-3).
- Nullity: any clause in a contract, collective agreement or internal regulation that sets lower pay for one sex is void, and the higher pay applies automatically (Article L.225-4).
- Fine: €251 to €25,000; for a repeat offence within 2 years, the maximum may be doubled (Article L.225-5).
- Proof: once the employee establishes facts suggesting discrimination, the employer must prove there was none (Article L.244-3). The Inspectorate of Labour and Mines (Inspection du travail et des mines, ITM) nevertheless cites a Court of Appeal judgment of 7 December 2015 requiring the employee first to prove lower pay for comparable work.
- Staff delegation, mandatory from 15 employees: every six months, the employer gives it, and the equality delegate, statistics broken down by sex on recruitment, promotions, transfers, dismissals, pay and training (Article L.414-3). From 150 employees, the general criteria for selection at hiring and promotion and for appraising employees are decided jointly with it (Article L.414-9).
- Collective agreements: they must set out how equal pay is applied, and their negotiation covers its implementation, notably through an equality plan (Article L.162-12).
The ITM offers a dedicated telephone line and address for equal pay.
How to prepare now for the 2027 reports
Under the Directive, the first report of employers with 150 or more employees will cover 2026: the data behind it is being built now. Useful steps, subject to the arrangements that Luxembourg law will set:
- Make payroll data by sex reliable: basic pay, bonuses and variable components, benefits in kind, hours paid, to calculate gross annual and hourly levels.
- Build a job architecture and 'same work or work of equal value' categories using objective, gender-neutral criteria, with the staff delegation.
- Set a pay range for each job, share it with candidates and remove any question on current or past pay from forms and interviews.
- Write and circulate the criteria for setting pay and pay progression.
- Plan a procedure for replying to individual requests within 2 months and for informing all employees every year.
- Remove pay confidentiality clauses from contracts and regulations.
- Measure the mean and median gap by category, document objective justifications and budget for correcting unjustified gaps of at least 5%.
- Control access to the data (GDPR), especially in small categories where an individual's pay could be identified.
Benefits in kind count in the pay to be compared: see company cars in Luxembourg. The link between hours, bonuses and payroll is explained in from time clock to payroll in Luxembourg.
What penalties apply now, and after transposition?
Today, an employer faces the criminal fine of €251 to €25,000, whose maximum may be doubled for a repeat offence within 2 years, the nullity of discriminatory clauses with the higher pay applying instead, and action by the employee, who benefits from a presumption of discrimination. After transposition, the Directive also provides for:
- full compensation with no ceiling: back pay and bonuses, loss of opportunity, non-material damage, interest;
- injunctions and penalty payments;
- comparison with a 'single source' that sets pay conditions, or through statistics;
- a limitation period of at least 3 years, which does not start before the employee knows, or can reasonably be expected to know, of the infringement;
- the burden of proof on an employer that has not met its transparency obligations (Articles 5, 6, 7, 9 or 10), unless the breach was manifestly unintentional and minor;
- national fines, specific penalties for repeated infringements and possible exclusion from public procurement.
The level of Luxembourg fines linked to the Directive is not yet known.
Common mistakes
- Waiting for the Luxembourg law before collecting data: under the Directive, the June 2027 report covers 2026.
- Believing employers with 150 to 249 employees have until 2028: the Directive also sets 7 June 2027 for them.
- Calculating the gap on basic pay alone: pay includes bonuses, variable components and benefits in kind such as a company car.
- Defining categories by job title or department: the comparison is based on the value of the work, using objective, gender-neutral criteria.
- Leaving a 'current salary' field on the application form, or letting a recruiter ask about past pay.
- Forgetting returns from leave: the joint pay assessment examines pay rises granted after maternity, paternity, parental or carers' leave.
Your checklist
- Check equal pay for work of equal value now, with classification criteria common to both sexes.
- Give the staff delegation and the equality delegate statistics broken down by sex every six months.
- Collect reliable payroll data by sex from 2026: basic pay, variable components, benefits in kind, hours.
- Group jobs into categories of equal value using objective, gender-neutral criteria, with the staff delegation.
- Set a range for each job and remove any question on candidates' pay history.
- Publish internally the criteria for setting pay and pay progression.
- Organise replies to information requests within 2 months and the annual reminder of this right.
- Measure gaps by category and document the justification or correction of any gap of 5% or more.
How Luxapps helps
FXP, for fiduciaries and their client employers, and MySafeBox, for companies that run payroll in-house, prepare now the indicators, justifications and replies the Directive requires.
Job categories (equal work or work of equal value), calculation of pay gaps between women and men, and justification of gaps.
FXP and MySafeBoxAction plans, reports and an audit log to track each gap, its justification and its correction.
FXP and MySafeBoxAn employee view, on the web and mobile, supports the right to information on pay.
FXP and MySafeBoxGDPR built in (record of processing, data subject rights), AES-256 encryption, two-factor authentication and SSO, every action logged.
FXP and MySafeBoxFrequently asked questions
No. Directive (EU) 2023/970 had to be transposed by 7 June 2026, and no bill had been tabled in the Chamber of Deputies on 5 October 2026. On 24 June 2026, the Minister of Labour said the Directive should be on the agenda of the next Standing Committee on Labour and Employment. The equal pay rules of the Labour Code already apply.
The Directive gives candidates the right to know the starting pay or its range, based on objective, gender-neutral criteria, for example in the job advert, before the interview or in another way. The advert is therefore only one option among others. The Luxembourg arrangements will depend on the transposing law, which had not been tabled on 5 October 2026.
Directive (EU) 2023/970 forbids employers from asking candidates about their pay history, in their current or previous jobs. This rule has yet to be transposed in Luxembourg. Removing the question from forms and interviews now avoids changing practice at the last minute.
Under the Directive, employers with 250 or more employees, like those with 150 to 249, submit their first report by 7 June 2027, covering 2026. After that, reports are annual from 250 employees and every 3 years for 150 to 249. Employers with 100 to 149 employees have until 7 June 2031.
The Labour Code punishes an employer that does not ensure equal pay for the same work or work of equal value with a fine of €251 to €25,000 (Article L.225-5), and the maximum may be doubled for a repeat offence within 2 years. Any clause setting lower pay for one sex is void, and the higher pay applies.
It is an analysis carried out with employee representatives when the report shows, in a category of workers, an average gap of at least 5% that is neither justified by objective, gender-neutral criteria nor corrected within 6 months. It examines the gaps and their reasons, pay rises on return from leave and corrective measures.
Official sources
- Directive (EU) 2023/970 of 10 May 2023 on pay transparency
- Labour Code, consolidated version of 26 July 2026 (Articles L.162-12, L.225-1 to L.225-5, L.244-3, L.411-1, L.414-3, L.414-9), Legilux
- ITM, Penalties for unequal pay
- ITM, Burden of proof in equal pay cases
- ITM, Equal pay
- Chamber of Deputies, Labour Committee of 24 June 2026: agenda
- Chamber of Deputies, 'An exchange on platform work and equal pay' (24 June 2026)
This guide sets out the general rules in force on 5 October 2026. It is not legal advice for your situation (collective agreement, sector, employee status).