EU Pay Transparency Directive, Article 7
Ask your employer for your pay information
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EU countries had until 7 June 2026 to let workers ask for their own pay level and the average pay, by sex, of colleagues doing the same work or work of equal value. This letter uses the rule in force where you work, and asks politely where the law is not there yet.
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- Rules checked on 8 October 2026
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What happens next
Sources for this country
What you can ask for
Your pay level. Gross annual pay and the corresponding gross hourly pay (Article 3(1)(b)). Pay means basic pay and everything else you receive for the job, in cash or in kind (Article 3(1)(a)); recital 21 lists bonuses, overtime pay, allowances and occupational pensions among the examples.
The average pay levels, by sex, for the category of workers doing the same work as you or work of equal value (Article 7(1)). You get averages, never a named colleague's pay.
The criteria your employer uses to set pay, pay levels and pay progression. Employers must make them easy to find anyway (Article 6); countries may exempt employers with fewer than 50 workers from the progression part.
The employer answers in writing within a reasonable time and at the latest two months after the request (Article 7(4)), unless national law sets a shorter period: Malta allows eight days.
What else the directive gives you
Through someone else. You can ask and receive the answer through your workers' representatives or an equality body (Article 7(2)).
Clarification. If the answer is inaccurate or incomplete, you can ask for further details and a reasoned reply (Article 7(2)).
Talking about pay. Nobody can stop you disclosing your own pay to enforce equal pay, and contract clauses that forbid it are to be banned (Article 7(5)). Your employer can ask you to use what you learn about colleagues only for equal pay purposes (Article 7(6)).
Every year your employer has to remind all workers of this right and how to use it (Article 7(3)).
Where the right is already in force
As of 8 October 2026, on the official sources we checked. Most countries are still working on their laws; the table of all 27 countries has each one's status and source.
| Country | Rule | Applies from | Answer within |
|---|---|---|---|
| Malta | Equal Pay (Transparency and Reporting) Regulations, 2026, regulation 6 | 5 June 2026 | 8 days |
| Italy | Legislative Decree No. 96 of 7 May 2026, Article 7 (one request a year) | 7 June 2026 | 2 months |
| Slovakia | Act No. 76/2026 Coll., section 6 | 7 June 2026 | 2 months |
| Belgium (Flanders, public sector) | Flemish Decree of 12 June 2026, Article 6: Flemish administration, local authorities, education | 7 June 2026 | 2 months |
| Greece | Law 5316/2026, Article 56A of the Labour Law Code | 1 November 2026 | 2 months |
| Germany | Pay Transparency Act of 2017, § 10 (not the directive): establishments with more than 200 employees, median pay of the other sex | 6 January 2018 | 3 months |
Questions
Do I have to give a reason for the request?
No. Article 7 of the directive does not ask for one, and neither do the national rules in force in Malta, Italy, Slovakia, Greece (from 1 November 2026) and the Flemish decree. Under Germany's current Pay Transparency Act you name a comparison activity instead of a reason.
Can my employer refuse?
Where the right is in force, the employer has to answer within the deadline. Greece lets an employer refuse a request that is manifestly disproportionate or abusive, for example because it is repeated, and Italy allows one request a year. Where the right is not in force yet, the employer can decline, which is why the letter then asks voluntarily.
Will I find out what a named colleague earns?
No. You receive averages for the women and the men in your category of workers. Where a group is so small that an average would show one person's pay, the directive lets each country send that figure only to workers' representatives, the labour inspectorate or the equality body (Article 12(3)).
What is a category of workers?
The group of workers doing the same work as you or work of equal value, which your employer sets on objective, gender-neutral criteria: skills, effort, responsibility and working conditions, and other factors relevant to the job (Articles 3(1)(h) and 4(4)).
Can I ask through my works council, union or an equality body?
Yes. The directive lets workers ask and receive the information through their workers' representatives and through an equality body (Article 7(2)). In Germany, where there is a works council, the request under the current law goes to the works council.
Is this legal advice?
No. The tool writes a letter from the rules shown on this page, checked on the official sources listed with the date. Your contract, a collective agreement or national case law can matter too; a union, works council or lawyer can advise on your situation.