Pay transparency: the French bill goes further than the European directive

Threshold lowered to 50 employees, tougher sanctions, tighter timetable: the French bill transposing the European directive goes further than the European text. Myriam de Gaudusson and Oumy Seidi, from our Employment Law Department, share their analysis in International Employment Lawyer (17 april 2026).

A bill more ambitious than the European directive

The bill lowers the reporting threshold from 100 to 50 employees, significantly expanding the number of companies concerned. Sanctions may reach 1% of the payroll, and 2% in the event of repeat offences. Companies with fewer than 100 employees will be subject to lighter obligations, while those with more than 100 employees will be required to actively consult their Social and Economic Committee (CSE) on their methodology.

Measures applicable as soon as the law is adopted

Three measures will take effect as soon as the legislation comes into force:

the obligation to indicate a salary range in job advertisements, with a €450 fine for each breach;
the prohibition on asking candidates about their current or previous remuneration;
the prohibition of salary confidentiality clauses.

A more demanding process for correcting pay gaps

Where a significant pay gap is identified, the employer will have six months to remedy it through a collective agreement or a unilateral decision. Failing this, a joint assessment with employee representatives will be required. Sanctions may be imposed if the situation has not been resolved within 12 months of the initial report.

Areas of uncertainty to monitor

The concepts of “equal work” and “remuneration” remain to be clarified. The pay-gap threshold triggering corrective action has not yet been set and could be lower than the 5% threshold provided for in the directive. The lawyers point out that the job classification resulting from the applicable collective bargaining agreement will often be insufficient to justify differences in remuneration.

Franklin’s advice: test your practices and plan ahead

For Myriam de Gaudusson and Oumy Seidi, the challenge is not formal compliance, but the actual robustness of existing practices. They recommend that employers:

review their job classification systems;
ensure the reliability of their remuneration data;
document pay decisions based on objective and neutral criteria;
identify undocumented pay gaps and opaque salary-setting mechanisms;
prepare a clear and consistent communication for employees and their representatives.