On 1 June 2026, Legislative Decree No. 96 of 7 May 2026 was published in the Official Gazette No. 125 (General Series), concerning the “Implementation of Directive (EU) 2023/970 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 May 2023, aimed at strengthening the application of the principle of equal pay for men and women for the same work or for work of equal value through pay transparency and the related enforcement mechanisms’, which came into force on 7 June 2026.

The decree, adopted in implementation of the 2022–2023 European Delegated Act (Law No. 15/2024), introduces into Italian law a comprehensive system of pay transparency obligations applicable to public and private employers, structured around four main pillars.

1. Pre-recruitment transparency (Article 5)

Employers are required to state in job advertisements and recruitment notices the starting salary or the relevant salary band for the position offered. It is expressly prohibited to ask candidates for information on salaries received in previous or current employment relationships, either directly or through persons delegated to carry out the recruitment process.

2. Transparency regarding pay criteria (Articles 6–8)

Employers must make the criteria used to determine pay and pay levels accessible to employees. For employers who apply a national collective labour agreement (CCNL) concluded by trade unions that are comparatively more representative, this obligation is deemed to have been fulfilled by reference to the contractual criteria. Employers with fewer than 50 employees are exempt from the obligation relating to progression criteria. Furthermore, every employee has the right to disclose their pay, and any contractual clauses restricting this right are prohibited.

3. Reporting on the gender pay gap (Article 9)

The obligation to collect and report data on the pay gap applies to employers with at least 100 employees, with a phased transitional regime based on company size:

  • employers with at least 250 employees: first collection by 7 June 2027, to be carried out annually;
  • employers with 150–249 employees: first collection by 7 June 2027, to be carried out every three years;
  • employers with 100–149 employees: first collection by 7 June 2031, to be carried out every three years.

The data to be reported include the average and median gender pay gaps (overall and for variable pay components), the distribution of employees by pay quartile, and the pay gap by employee category.

4. Joint assessment of pay (Article 10)

Where the data reveal a difference in the average pay level between female and male workers of 5 per cent or more in any category, not justified by objective criteria, and the employer has not rectified this difference within six months of the report, it is mandatory to initiate a joint assessment with workers’ representatives, analysing the causes, defining corrective measures and submitting the results to the Labour Inspectorate.

Penalties and legal protection (Articles 12–13)

Violations are penalised in accordance with the Equal Opportunities Code (Legislative Decree No. 198/2006), with the possibility of withdrawal of public benefits and exclusion from public procurement contracts, as well as protection against retaliation. Legal proceedings may also be brought by trade unions and associations whose statutory aims include the promotion of gender equality.

Operational guidance for businesses

The decree requires a review of recruitment processes, an update to information on pay criteria and the implementation of systems to analyse the pay gap, all in compliance with data protection legislation (Article 11). Companies with more than 150 employees have until 7 June 2027 to carry out their first data collection; however, it is advisable to begin mapping employee categories and reviewing their pay classification systems immediately.

 

Edited by the Labour and Risk, Compliance & Sustainability Teams

 

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