Pay Equality is Unavoidable

Portugal has missed the June 7, 2026 deadline to implement the EU's Directive (EU) 2023/970 on pay transparency. This directive is designed to strengthen the principle of equal pay for women and men for work of equal value, a goal that, despite decades of proclamation, remains elusive.

The article argues that achieving pay equality requires more than simply enshrining the principle in law. True equality depends on creating conditions where workers can understand, exercise, and assert their rights. Pay inequality often thrives in opacity, hidden behind unwritten criteria, poorly explained promotions, unjustified bonuses, unknown salary bands, and unequal individual negotiations. Historical practices persist because they are rarely scrutinized.

The EU directive directly addresses this opacity. While it does not mandate public disclosure of individual salaries, it requires clear explanations of pay policies. This means employers must detail the criteria for remuneration and salary progression. Job candidates should know the salary range for a position before being hired, and employers should not inquire about previous salaries, a practice that perpetuates past inequalities. Workers must also have access to relevant information on average pay levels for comparable work, and any pay differences must be based on objective, transparent, and gender-neutral criteria.

This push for transparency is framed not as radicalism but as a step towards genuine labor civilization. It compels management to be more professional, coherent, and responsible. Companies with fair criteria should not fear transparency. Those who differentiate pay based on responsibility, experience, complexity, qualifications, or performance should be able to demonstrate it. The core issue, the article contends, is not pay difference itself, but unjustified difference.