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Preparing for pay transparency in Ireland

The EU Pay Transparency Directive is due to be transposed into Irish law by June 2026 at the latest. This will have a transformative impact on Irish businesses and employers. 

Other countries that have implemented similar measures have shown that, where it is implemented well at the employer level, pay transparency can enhance employee perceptions of fairness and trust. Where employers are not prepared, employees may react badly.

How will pay transparency work in Ireland? 

Some aspects of pay transparency will be determined by Irish legislation; however the likely outline of the future rules is already clear.

  • Gender pay gaps and pay levels

    Employers must make public certain information related to gender pay gaps and pay levels at job interviews – this is likely in Ireland to include at a minimum the publication of pay bands with job adverts

  • Pay differences

    Pay differences must be based on legitimate and objective criteria unrelated to gender, such as individual competence and performance.

  • Joint pay assessment

    For pay gaps exceeding 5% per category of worker that cannot be explained by legitimate factors, employers must conduct a joint pay assessment with employees’ representatives and develop an action plan.

  • Evaluation criteria

    To evaluate and compare employees in similar roles, employers can consider criteria such as education, professional and training requirements, skills, effort, responsibilities, and the nature of work.

  • Equal pay for equal work

    Employees may request, and employers must provide, the mean pay levels by gender for categories of workers performing the same work or work of equal value.

  • Pay and career progression criteria

    Employers will have to provide their employees with the business-related, legitimate criteria used to make decisions on pay and career progression.

  • Pay range visibility

    Employers should provide increased transparency for employees in understanding existing pay levels and visibility of pay ranges for job seekers.

How should employers prepare?

A Readiness Workshop with us can help to define where your organisation may have gaps and where you should focus in preparing for Pay Transparency.

Some steps to consider may include the following:

  • Ensure that you have a job grading/levelling structure fit for purpose – so that you can transparently demonstrate pay equity
  • Run a pay equity analysis – so that you can identify in advance where you might have issues
  • Reassess or put in place pay policies suited to a Pay Transparency environment
  • Consider your training and communication strategy for leaders, managers and employees prior to the change

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Learn how Mercer can help you successfully report and publish your gender pay gap results to comply with new government legislation.
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