From surprise menu to open kitchen: pay transparency during the application process

You have a good job interview with an applicant you would be happy to hire. To get an idea of what an appropriate offer would be, you ask the following: ‘What was your last salary?‘ The applicant is unprepared for the negotiations that follow; the job posting only mentioned a ‘market-based‘ salary. Does that sound familiar?

This common practice will be a thing of the past by June 7, 2026 at the latest, as the European Pay Transparency Directive must have been implemented into Dutch national law by that point. You can read the details and learn all about the consequences in this blog.

Gender Pay Transparency Directive Implementation Act
The aim of the European Pay Transparency Directive, which came into force on June 7, 2023, is to promote equal pay for men and women. The bill implementing this directive was published on March 26, 2025. In addition to new rules on the application process, the bill also introduces:

• an obligation to form pay structures based on objective and gender-neutral criteria;
• mandatory reporting by employers with ≥100 employees on the pay gap within the organization; and
• specific information rights for employees on pay.

The legislature has less than a year left to have the bill approved by the House of Representatives and the Senate.

How is the application process changing?
Essentially, the bill introduces two new aspects to the application process.

1. pre-employment pay transparency: the bill provides that a clear starting salary or range (salary scale) must be communicated prior to salary negotiations. So, vague terms like ‘market-based,’ ‘competitive,’ or ‘attractive‘ salary no longer suffice. The applicant will not have to ask about this. Employers may decide when to provide the starting salary or range, as long as they do it in such a way that transparent and informed salary negotiations can take place, for instance by including this information in the job posting or by providing it before the interview. The aim is to eliminate situations in which the employer and the employee do not possess the same information. This will help to combat the pay gap and may improve the economic position of women. The consequence of not complying with this pay transparency obligation is that employees will have the benefit of assumption in pay claims on account of prohibited discrimination. This is because the burden of proof is reversed and it will be up to the employer to prove that there is no prohibited discrimination in a particular case.

2. prohibition against asking about pay in current or previous employment: the bill provides that employers may not ask job applicants questions about pay in the context of their current or previous employment relationships. This applies to both internal and external applications. They may not do so indirectly either, for instance by asking about the salary scale. Of course, applicants will still be at liberty to share information about their previous salary of their own accord, but the idea is that grading based on the last-earned salary perpetuates the gender pay gap. A lower starting salary may have an impact throughout a person’s career and therefore has a lasting effect on a person’s income. The consequence of violating this prohibition is that employees or job applicants will be able to claim compensation for the damage they have suffered as a result. The question then is what this damage actually is.

Tip
The European Pay Transparency Directive affects your application process. Take steps now to make your organization’s application process compliant, so that you do not find yourself in a bind when the bill comes into effect in the near future.