The EU Pay Transparency Directive requires fresh rules for associate States to inform candidates and workers about wages. The goal of equal pay is right, but the burden of implementation falls on companies that request clear Polish law, not regulatory chaos.
Remuneration ceases to be a secret of recruitment
Directive 2023/1970 of the European Parliament and of the Council is intended to strengthen the rule of equal pay between men and women for equal work or work of equal value. associate States received time for its implementation by 7 June 2026. The fresh rules include the access of candidates to information on the first wage or its scope and limiting questions about erstwhile earnings.
The direction has a strong reason. The candidate should know under what conditions he is talking about work, alternatively of undergoing multi-stage recruitment without basic information on pay. Transparency can restrict freedom and reward companies that value their positions fairly. The problem begins erstwhile the European regulation comes to obscure national rules and the diverse practice of thousands of businesses.
More obligations for employers
The Directive gives workers the right to information on the criteria for wage fixing and wage development. It besides provides for the reporting of the wage gap by larger employers, with the frequency and timing depending on the size of the company. The most extended reporting obligations shall apply to entities employing at least 100 persons.
This means the request to organise pay grids, occupation descriptions, promotion criteria and staff data. A large corp can commission this extended HR department and law firm. The average Polish company has a much smaller organisational and financial buffer. If the legislator prepares the provisions late or inaccurately, the cost of errors will be borne by employers and employees.
Brussels goal, Polish responsibility
Equal pay for the work of the same value is not a left-wing invention, but an simple rule of honesty. However, it does not show that all bureaucratic mechanics is good. The Community directive leaves the States a space for implementation and Warsaw is liable for ensuring that the fresh law is clear, proportionate and applicable.
Poland cannot presume the function of passive contractor, who at the last minute prescribes EU formulas and later shifts hazard to entrepreneurs. In advance, consultations were needed with companies of different sizes, trade unions and labour law experts. economical sovereignty is besides expressed in the quality of national legislation: the State is to defend the individual without suffocating entrepreneurship.
Jobs and trust are at stake
Good transparency can reduce recruitment, reduce conflicts and increase assurance in the workplace. Misimplemented will make a stack of documents, disputes about the comparability of positions and subsequent legal costs. Smallest companies can respond with more careful employment if they do not know the risks of fresh responsibilities.
The Polish labour marketplace needs fair rules, but besides freedom to enter into contracts and space for business development. The State should clarify clearly the scope of candidates' rights, employers' obligations and redress procedures. Brussels has set a framework. The Polish authorities are liable for the Polish legal order, and they must be accounted for whether protection of the worker will not turn into costly improvisation.
