Directive 2023/920 gives workers the right to access pay information, including colleagues’ wages — a bold move to fight inequality and promote transparency.

A new era of wage transparency is dawning across Europe. The European Union’s Directive 2023/920, recently approved and set to be implemented across member states, effectively abolishes pay secrecy and grants employees the right to access detailed information about salaries within their workplace — including those of colleagues.

The groundbreaking legislation aims to close persistent gender and structural pay gaps by empowering workers with greater transparency around remuneration. In practice, it means that any employee in an EU country can request and obtain wage data — not only about their own pay band but also that of co-workers in comparable roles.

“This is about fairness, equality, and accountability,” said Helena Dalli, European Commissioner for Equality. “Pay secrecy has long shielded discrimination. With this directive, the EU is giving workers the tools to confront it.”

Under Directive 2023/920, employers are required to provide accessible and comprehensible information on pay levels, including average salaries disaggregated by gender and job category. In companies with over 100 employees, pay gap reporting will become mandatory, and discrepancies must be justified or corrected.

Perhaps most controversially, the directive overrides any contractual clauses that prohibit employees from disclosing or discussing their wages. In effect, pay transparency becomes a legal right — and secrecy, a potential liability.

Reactions have been mixed. Worker unions have largely welcomed the directive, viewing it as a long-overdue mechanism to address salary discrimination and improve workplace morale. “Sunlight is the best disinfectant,” said Karin Meyer, a labor rights advocate in Berlin. “Knowing what your peers earn doesn’t just help individuals — it forces organizations to reflect on their internal equity.”

But business groups and HR professionals have raised concerns. Some warn of tension in workplaces, fearing that open access to wage information could spark jealousy, disputes, or resignations. Others argue that it could erode merit-based reward systems.

“Compensation is complex,” said Patrick Blomqvist, a Swedish HR executive. “Not all roles are directly comparable, and not all performance is equal. Public pay data must be interpreted carefully — otherwise, transparency risks turning into confusion.”

Legal experts also note that while the directive strengthens employee rights, it does not give carte blanche to access personal payroll documents. Privacy protections remain in place, and access must follow procedures outlined in national implementation laws. Still, the spirit of the law is clear: secrecy must no longer be used to mask inequality.

The directive is expected to particularly benefit women and minority workers, who often face unintentional or systemic wage disparities. According to Eurostat, the average gender pay gap in the EU still stands at 12.7%. Policymakers hope that public pressure, combined with formal reporting requirements, will accelerate progress.

National governments now have until 2026 to fully transpose the directive into domestic law. Some member states — such as Denmark, Sweden, and the Netherlands — already have partial wage transparency systems in place and are expected to move quickly. Others, including more conservative or low-wage economies, may face political resistance.

As Europe moves forward with this legislative overhaul, companies will be forced to rethink how they structure, communicate, and justify pay. For employees, the shift marks a significant empowerment — and a new opportunity to challenge long-standing disparities hidden in plain sight.