Employer Update: Pay Transparency Implementation in Ireland – Recent Developments

Introduction

The EU Pay Transparency Directive (Directive (EU) 2023/970) (the “Directive”) is required to be transposed into Irish law by 7 June 2026.

As detailed in our previous employer update, the Directive introduces changes for employers in Ireland, including in respect of recruitment, the establishment of information rights for employees to pay setting information, pay progression information, limitations on pay secrecy, and enhanced gender pay gap (“GPG”) reporting obligations.

Progress on and Timelines for Implementation

The Heads of the Pay Transparency Bill, which will transpose the Directive into Irish law, are currently in preparation.

While the Directive is required to be transposed into Irish law by 7 June 2026, the Department of Children, Disability and Equality (the “Department”), which is responsible for transposing the Directive in Ireland, has recently indicated in statements by officials, that Ireland is unlikely to meet this deadline for implementation.

Instead, implementation is expected to take place on a phased basis. The Department has set out that it intends to work with employers, employees and representatives to assist with implementation of the Directive.

The Department has also stated that employers will not be penalised for failures to implement the Directive by the June deadline. It has further confirmed that it is working with all stakeholders to communicate this message.

The Department has recently confirmed that, in relation to parts of the Pay Transparency Bill regarding the publication of pay ranges on job postings, “officials are still considering recommendations from last October’s Pre-Legislative Scrutiny report and that other factors that have also impacted its work.” This provides an indication that the pre-employment pay transparency elements of the Directive may be prioritised for implementation in Ireland. It is not yet clear when that will be.

EU Guidelines on Gender-Neutral Job Evaluation and Classification

The European Commission, in conjunction with the European Institute for Gender Equality (“EIGE”) has now published its Guidelines on Gender-Neutral Job Evaluation and Classification (the “Guidelines”), which is a toolkit to help employers carry out a gender-neutral job evaluation and classification. The Guidelines are available here: EU-wide guidelines on gender-neutral job evaluation and classification: Step-by-step toolkit.

The toolkit offers three tailored pathways, depending on the size, sector and resources of an organisation.

Pathway 1 sets out a simplified “graduated factor comparison” method, for micro-organisations with fewer than 10 workers.

Pathway 2, which is designed for use by small and medium-sized organisations, sets out a streamlined “pair comparisons” approach, suitable for SMEs and organisations with fewer, more similar jobs.

Pathway 3 sets out a comprehensive, analytical “point-factor” job evaluation method, designed to be carried out by a job evaluation committee in medium and large organisations with diverse job roles and structured HR processes.

The toolkit contains ten practical tools organised across three stages – the preparation stage, implementation stage, and monitoring and follow-up stage.

The preparation stage tools provide guidance on understanding and preventing gender bias, getting started, and gathering job information through questionaries, interviews and job profiles.

The implementation stage tools help to ascertain the actual job evaluation and classification, with a dedicated tool for each pathway.

The monitoring and follow-up stage tools help with adjusting job titles and descriptions to remove gender-biased language, tracking progress, aligning HR policies with results, and establishing ongoing monitoring and review processes.

There are two additional tools aimed specifically at trade unions in terms of negotiating and overseeing gender-neutral systems through collective bargaining, and at employees in terms of approaching equal pay conversations with employers.

The toolkit includes a detailed factor and subfactor plan setting out gender-neutral evaluation criteria across skills, responsibilities, effort and working conditions, designed to aid employers in creating and implementing their gender-neutral job evaluation and classification systems.

It is expected that an Ireland-adapted toolkit will be developed by the Department, to align with the Irish transposition of the Directive in advance of the commencement of the implementing legislation. Again it is unclear when the Ireland specific toolkit will be published.

What should employers do now to prepare?

We strongly recommend that employers continue preparing for the Directive’s implementation by:

• focussing on mapping their job architecture so that employers are ready to extract pay transparency data from accurately constructed job categories;
• auditing current pay and reward practices;
• identifying potential gender pay gaps within job categories, understanding why they exist and what steps can narrow any gaps; and
• evaluating the robustness of performance management and competency based reward and progression frameworks.

In particular, employers may wish to prioritise preparing for compliance with pre-employment pay transparency obligations, which includes providing candidates with information on pay levels or pay ranges in advance of employment, and a prohibition on asking candidates about their pay history. As previously reported, the scope of those obligations is not yet clear but should be clarified in implementing legislation.

This is particularly important given that, as outlined above, the Department has indicated that pre-employment pay transparency obligations may be prioritised in terms of the Irish transposition of the Directive.

How the Maples Group can help

If you require assistance or for further information, please reach out to your usual Maples Group contact or any of the persons listed on this page.