The European Directive 2023/970 on pay transparency entered into force on 7 June 2026, and Spain reaches the deadline without having completed its transposition into domestic law. The Ministry of Labour is working on a royal decree to incorporate it, but today Spanish companies are facing a European standard in force without a definitive national text to implement it.
What is clear is the background message: transparency of payrolls is no longer a recommendation to become an obligation with real consequences, and companies that are not prepared will assume significant legal, reputational and economic risks.
What does Directive 2023/970 provide for?
The new directive reinforces the principle of equal pay for work of equal value, which was already enshrined in the Workers' Statute, but which in practice had proved difficult to demand because of a lack of effective instruments.
The main innovations it introduces are:
- Reduction of the wage gap threshold: companies will have to act when the gap between men and women exceeds 5%, as opposed to the 25% required by the previous regulations.
- Individual right of information: any worker may request information on his or her remuneration level and compare it with that of his or her colleagues, disaggregated by sex.
- Wage bands in job vacancies: all tenders must include the remuneration or wage range of the post.
- End of wage confidentiality clauses: contracts may not prohibit workers from sharing information about their wages.
- Prohibition to ask about salary history: candidates may not be questioned about their previous remuneration during the selection process.
- Inversion of the burden of proof: Where an undertaking fails to comply with its reporting obligations, it must prove that there is no discrimination, and not that the worker must prove it.
- Compensation scheme without ceiling: repair shall include salary arrears, moral damages, loss of opportunity and interest, without a predefined ceiling.
Why Spain is late for transposition
The deadline for incorporating the directive into domestic law expired on 7 June 2026, three years after its adoption. The Secretary of State for Labour, Joaquín Pérez Rey, publicly acknowledged the delay and announced that the text of the royal transposition decree would be completed “in the next few days or weeks”, and then seek the opinion of the social partners and be approved in the Council of Ministers.
Meanwhile, companies operate in a regulatory limbo: the directive is in force in the EU, but the specific implementation mechanisms in Spain are not yet defined.This does not eliminate the risk; in any case, it expands it, because the organisations do not know exactly what text they will have to comply with.
The vision of Juan José Carmelo, head of the work area of Afianza Asesores
Juan José Carmelo Santana, member of the Board of Directors of the Colegio de Graduados Sociales de Madrid and head of the labor department of Afianza Asesores, qualifies the directive as "an additional twist in the exercise of professionalizing the human resources departments of the Spanish business fabric".
In its analysis, the standard sets out the basic rules in the European common market, obliging to review the professional charts in the organisations and to redefine organizational charts and positions with more objective criteria. For companies with more than 100 employees, the impact is particularly relevant:
- They must review tasks and functions of each position.
- They must align these positions with objectively defined wage bands.
- They need to identify what trainings bring differentiating value in each strategic role.
Carmelo also points out that, although Spain already had Royal Decrees 901 and 902 of 2020 — aligned with the spirit of the directive — the new rule significantly tightens the requirements: the threshold of the gap that requires explanations to be given falls from 25% to 5%. This, in his words, “has forced many companies to exercise reflection, setting adjustment mechanisms to correct deviations that the wage gap can show”.
Its conclusion is prudent but clear: it will be necessary to wait for final transposition to know exactly what changes are being introduced into the Spanish legal order, but companies cannot afford to wait to start preparing themselves.
What Businesses Should Do Now
Although the national text is not closed, the directive clearly sets the course.
Revision of the pay system
- Audit existing remunerations to detect gender gaps, especially in jobs of equal value.
- Document the objective criteria that justify the wage differences.
- Ensure that these criteria are gender neutral.
Updating of selection processes
- Remove any questions about the candidates' salary history.
- Include the wage band in all job offers.
- Review contract templates to remove wage confidentiality clauses.
Preparation or updating of the remuneration register
- The register must include all wage and non-wage elements.
- It should be disaggregated by sex and occupational category.
- Companies with more than 100 employees will have to report periodically the gap with breakdown by quartiles.
Revision of the professional classification system
- Verify that job classification systems are neutral.
- Update the diagrams and organigrams in line with the new requirements.
What is at stake: Beyond formal fulfillment
The directive not only introduces technical obligations: it changes the logic of the labour dispute in wage matters. With the reversal of the burden of proof and a compensation scheme without a ceiling, each claim for pay discrimination becomes an economically relevant matter for both parties.
Companies that have managed the remuneration with opacity will have to rethink their model. And those that have not classified their positions by value or equivalence, nor registered objective wage fixing criteria, assume a real risk of labor conflict and litigation.
The message is clear: preparation cannot wait for the actual transposition decree to be published.
Does your company need to review its remuneration policy or adapt its processes to new wage transparency requirements? Afianza experts We can help you anticipate policy changes with a personalized analysis of your situation.
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