The Pay Transparency Directive (the “Directive”) was due to be transposed by Member States by 7 June 2026. Ireland has now missed this deadline and in a written response to a Parliamentary Question on 26 May 2026, the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality confirmed that the EU Commission was informed that Ireland would not have the Directive fully transposed by the required date.

The Minister advised that “Work is ongoing at pace to develop the necessary legislation to transpose the remaining provisions of the Pay Transparency Directive as soon as possible”. She also confirmed that implementation will now proceed on a phased basis once the legislation has been passed and crucially that employers will not be penalised for failing to comply with all aspects of the Directive by June 2026.

The result is that Irish employers face a transitional period in which some elements of the Directive are already reflected in existing Irish law, some pre-employment transparency measures are expected to be introduced first, and the remaining obligations will follow through further legislation and guidance. Unfortunately, employers have also been left in a position where no indicative timeline has been provided.

What measures are likely to be implemented first?

Based on the legislative materials published to date and public statements from the Department, the most likely early measures are those dealing with pay transparency before employment. These include:

  • Providing salary or salary ranges upfront, in the job advertisement or before interview (draft Irish proposals suggest a requirement for salary disclosure in the job advertisement).
  • Prohibiting employers from asking about pay history.
  • Requiring gender-neutral job descriptions and job titles.
What measures are likely coming later?

Irish employers should be preparing now, notwithstanding the delay in full transposition. Looking to other Member States for guidance, employers in Slovakia were given just seven weeks to categorise their workforce once the legislation came into force.

As an initial step, employers should:

  • Review job advertisements and recruitment processes so that remuneration rates or ranges can be provided clearly and consistently at the required stage.
  • Look to remove salary history questions from application forms and interview processes.
  • HR and hiring teams should be trained on the new recruitment stage obligations and permitted pay discussions, to be ready when the legislation is implemented.
  • Employment contracts and policies should be reviewed to identify and remove any pay secrecy clauses that may no longer be enforceable in the future.

As advised, the phased approach means that recruitment-stage obligations may emerge first, however prudent employers should also begin the broader structural work needed for later phases, particularly around pay architecture, job evaluation and documentation of objective pay criteria. In terms of the more onerous provisions and where the most work will be required, employers should:

  • Establish categories of workers performing the same work or work of equal value and assess whether differences in pay across those categories can be objectively justified on gender-neutral grounds. The EU has prepared a toolkit to assist, however, the Minister has advised that a dedicated Irish Employer Gender-Neutral Job Evaluation toolkit, based on the recently published EU toolkit, is being commissioned by the Department.
  • Ensure salary, bonus and benefits are determined by clearly documented criteria.
  • Draft transparent pay progression frameworks based on objective skills, experience and performance.
  • Ensure data management systems are capable of responding to employee requests for pay information within the required timeframes.
  • For employers already within the Irish gender pay gap reporting regime, prepare for the expected use of the State reporting portal for the 2026 reporting cycle and ensure internal data systems can support accurate reporting. Remember your snapshot date is June!

While we understand that there is much uncertainty around the implementation of the Directive, employers should, as outlined above begin to take steps to prepare and be ready for its implementation.

For further information please contact Partners Caoimhe Heery or Claire McDermott or any other member of our Employment Team, who will be glad to assist.

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