Directive (EU) 2023/970 to strengthen the application of the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value between men and women through pay transparency and enforcement mechanisms (‘the Directive’) was to be transposed by the Member States by 7 June 2026. Romania has not yet adopted the transposing law. The legislative proposal registered with the Senate in June 2026 was rejected by the Senate on 14 October 2026 and is now before the Chamber of Deputies, which is the decision-making chamber.
Pending the adoption of national transposing legislation, the Ministry of Labour has stated that obligations established exclusively by the Directive do not have direct effect on employers, who cannot be subject to administrative (contravention) fines for failing to comply with them. Nevertheless, Article 9(2) to (4) of the Directive provides that employers with at least 150 workers must submit their first reports on the pay gap between female and male workers by 7 June 2027, for the calendar year 2026, while employers with 100–149 workers become subject to this obligation from 7 June 2031. Given the complexity of collecting and analysing pay data, evaluating jobs and establishing objective pay criteria, many companies have already begun preparing to comply with the forthcoming legal obligations.
1. What the Pay Transparency Directive is and the status of transposition
The Directive seeks to ensure the effective application of the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value. The instrument chosen is transparency: applicants and employees receive information on pay, and larger employers report periodically on the differences between female and male workers.
Pay has a broad meaning. It includes basic salary and any other consideration, in cash or in kind, received directly or indirectly in respect of employment: bonuses, premiums, benefits and paid overtime. The rules therefore concern the entire remuneration package, not just basic salary.
In Romania, the Ministry of Labour published a draft law for public consultation on 30 March 2026. The draft was then tabled as a parliamentary initiative and registered with the Senate on 17 June 2026 (L445/2026). The Senate rejected the proposal on 14 October 2026 and it was sent to the Chamber of Deputies, where the final text may be amended.
2. What changes in recruitment
The recruitment obligations apply to all employers, irrespective of the number of employees. Under Article 5 of the Directive:
- applicants have the right to receive information on the initial pay or its range for the position, based on objective, gender-neutral criteria, as well as on the relevant provisions of the applicable collective (labour) agreement;
- the information is provided in the job vacancy notice or before the interview, so that negotiations are informed and transparent, although the Directive does not expressly require pay to be published in the vacancy notice;
- the employer may not ask applicants about their pay in their current or previous employment relationships;
- job vacancy notices and job titles must be gender-neutral, and the recruitment process must be conducted in a non-discriminatory manner.
In practice, the employer needs an established pay range for each position before the vacancy notice is published. Vacancy notice templates, interview scripts and application forms must be reviewed, including questions about ‘current salary’ or ‘salary expectations based on previous pay’.
3. Criteria for setting pay and pay progression
The employer must make easily accessible to workers the criteria used to determine their pay, pay levels and pay progression (Article 6 of the Directive). The criteria must be objective and gender-neutral. Member States may exempt employers with fewer than 50 workers from the obligation relating to pay progression criteria.
To compare different jobs, the Directive requires work to be assessed on the basis of objective criteria: skills, effort, responsibility and working conditions. A vague job description or a pay scale without clear grading rules will be difficult to defend in an inspection or in litigation.
4. Employees’ right to information
Under Article 7 of the Directive, employees have the right to request and receive, in writing, information on their individual pay level and on the average pay levels, broken down by sex, for categories of workers doing the same work or work of equal value. The employer must respond within a reasonable period, and in any event within two months of the date of the request.
The employer must inform all workers annually of this right. Contractual terms that prevent employees from disclosing their pay for the purpose of enforcing the principle of equal pay are no longer permitted. Confidentiality clauses in individual employment contracts and the corresponding provisions of internal regulations must therefore be reviewed and, where appropriate, revised to ensure that this right is respected.
5. Reporting on the pay gap between female and male workers
The reporting obligation depends on the number of workers (Article 9 of the Directive):
- 250 or more workers: first report by 7 June 2027, for the calendar year 2026, and annually thereafter;
- between 150 and 249 workers: first report by 7 June 2027, and every three years thereafter;
- between 100 and 149 workers: first report by 7 June 2031, then every three years;
- fewer than 100 workers: the Directive does not impose a reporting obligation, reporting being voluntary, unless national law provides for such an obligation.
The report covers, among other things, the mean and median gender pay gap, the gap in variable components (bonuses), the proportion of female and male workers receiving variable components, the proportion in each quartile pay band, and the pay gap between workers by categories of workers, broken down by ordinary basic salary and complementary or variable components.
6. Joint pay assessment
Employers subject to the reporting obligation under Article 9 must carry out a joint pay assessment in cooperation with workers’ representatives where the reporting reveals, in a category of workers, a difference in average pay levels between female and male workers of at least 5% that is not justified on the basis of objective, gender-neutral criteria and that the employer has not remedied within six months of the date of submission of the report (Article 10 of the Directive).
The joint pay assessment seeks to identify the causes of pay differences and to establish the measures needed to remedy and prevent them, with the employer being required to remedy unjustified differences within a reasonable period, in close cooperation with workers’ representatives.
Are you preparing your pay scale, job descriptions or your first pay transparency report? We review the documents and tell you what needs to change before the law enters into force.
7. Litigation, compensation and penalties
The Directive also changes the rules in pay discrimination litigation:
- burden of proof: where an employee establishes facts from which discrimination may be presumed, the employer must prove that there has been no discrimination (Article 18 of the Directive); where the employer has failed to comply with its transparency obligations, it bears the burden of proof in any pay discrimination proceedings, unless it proves that the infringement was manifestly unintentional and of a minor character;
- compensation: workers who have suffered harm as a result of pay discrimination are entitled to full compensation, including full recovery of back pay, related bonuses and payments in kind, as well as, where appropriate, compensation for non-material damage and interest on arrears (Article 16 of the Directive);
- limitation period: the limitation period for bringing claims may not be shorter than three years (Article 21 of the Directive);
- penalties: Member States lay down effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties, including fines (Article 23 of the Directive).
The initial version of legislative proposal L445/2026 provided for fines of 3 to 5 times the gross national minimum wage of Romania, and 5 to 10 times the minimum wage for repeat infringements. The final amount will be set by the Chamber of Deputies.
8. What employers can do now
- Check whether each position has an up-to-date job description and whether pay grading is based on clear, objective and gender-neutral criteria.
- Group the positions that constitute the same work or work of equal value, based on the criteria in the Directive.
- Calculate the pay gap for 2026 if you have at least 150 workers, including for bonuses and other variable components, and identify any differences that cannot be objectively justified.
- Review job vacancy notices, interview questions and application forms so that applicants receive information on the initial pay or its range for the position and are not asked about their current or previous pay.
- Review pay confidentiality clauses in individual employment contracts and internal regulations.
- Set out, in writing, objective, transparent and gender-neutral criteria for awarding bonuses and pay rises, as well as for pay progression, including on promotion.
Conclusions
Although Romania has not yet adopted the transposing law, the main obligations are already laid down by the Directive, and the first pay gap reports are due in 2027 for employers with at least 150 workers. Preparing pay scales, pay criteria and pay records in good time can facilitate compliance with the forthcoming legal requirements and help reduce the risk of pay discrimination litigation.
Frequently asked questions
Does the Pay Transparency Directive already apply in Romania?
Not as regards private employers. An untransposed directive does not, in itself, create obligations for private companies, and the Ministry of Labour has stated that employers cannot be penalised before the national law is adopted. The obligations will become applicable on the date set by the transposing law.
Do I have to publish the pay in the job advertisement?
The Directive requires the initial pay or its range to be communicated to the applicant in the vacancy notice or before the interview. Publishing it in the vacancy notice is one of the options, not the only one.
Can I ask an applicant how much they earn in their current job?
Not after transposition. The Directive prohibits the employer from asking about the applicant’s pay in their current or previous employment relationships.
From when do I have to report the pay gap?
Employers with at least 150 workers report by 7 June 2027, and those with 100–149 workers by 7 June 2031. Employers with at least 250 workers then report annually, the others every three years.
What happens if the pay gap exceeds 5%?
If the gap cannot be justified by objective criteria and is not remedied within 6 months of reporting, the employer must carry out a joint pay assessment with workers’ representatives.
Adesman & Asociații assists employers with auditing pay structures, reviewing HR documentation and representation in employment disputes. Find out more about our employment law practice.
Would you like to know how the new rules affect you? Speak to our employment law team.
This material is provided for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The applicable regime must be assessed in light of the specific circumstances of each employer and the legislation in force at the date of the assessment.
