Poland Moves Forward on EU Pay Transparency Directive Implementation

Quick Hits

• Employers in Poland would be required under a draft bill to implement the EU Pay Transparency Directive to evaluate jobs using four statutory criteria: skills, effort, responsibility, and working conditions.
• Under the draft bill, employee pay comparisons can include other employers under a single source of remuneration rules.
• Employers would be required to inform all employees annually by March 31 of their right to request individual and gender-based pay information.
• Unjustified pay gaps of 5 percent or more may trigger remedial action, joint wage assessments, and financial penalties of up to PLN 50,000.

The draft bill would require employers to assess the value of work performed in their organisation using four statutory criteria: skills, effort, responsibility, and working conditions, and may introduce additional, job-specific criteria where relevant. Thus, employers would be required to determine the categories of employees performing equal work or work of equal value and establish transparent criteria for remuneration, salary levels, and salary increases. These criteria would have to be made accessible to employees, subject to limited exceptions for employers with fewer than fifty employees. The assessment of equal work or work of equal value can also include employees of other employers that share a single source of remuneration rules, such as internal regulations within a capital group. Where trade unions operate, employers and the unions would have to agree upon remuneration criteria.

The draft bill also would introduce information obligations. Upon request, employees would be entitled to receive information on their individual pay level as well as the average pay levels by gender for the relevant employee category, within thirty days. Employers would have to inform employees by 31 March each year of their right to make such requests, and it would not be possible to prohibit employees from disclosing information about their remuneration.

In addition, employers with at least one hundred employees, calculated on a full-time equivalent basis including temporary workers, would be required to prepare gender pay gap reports. Where an unjustified pay gap of 5 percent or more is identified within a category of worker, employers would generally have six months to take effective remedial action. Failure to do so could result in a mandatory joint wage assessment with trade unions or employee representatives.

Under the bill, employees may claim compensation of at least the minimum for violations of equal pay, including outstanding pay, benefits in kind, lost profits, damages from intersectional discrimination, and interest for delay. Employers would face fines ranging from PLN 3,000 to PLN 50,000 for noncompliance with the law.

Employers are encouraged to stay informed about the implementation process in their respective jurisdictions. Information and updates on the progress of the directive’s implementation across the European Union can be found using Ogletree Deakins’ Member State Implementation Tracker.

For more on the EU’s pay transparency directive, see our previous articles, “EU Pay Transparency Directive: Updates on Implementation Across Member States,” “Preparing for the EU’s Pay Transparency Directive,” “EU Pay Transparency Directive: ‘Equal Pay for Equal Work or Work of Equal Value,” “Implementing the EU Pay Transparency Directive in Malta—New Obligations Effective From 27 August 2025,” “Netherlands Announces Delay in Implementation of the EU Pay Transparency Directive,” “The June 2026 EU Pay Transparency Directive Implementation Deadline Looms,” and “Poland’s Draft Pay Transparency Law to Mandate Job Evaluations Under New Government Tool.”

Further information can also be found by listening to our podcast “Understanding the EU Pay Transparency Directive: What Employers Need to Know.”

Ogletree Deakins’ London office, Pay Equity Practice Group, and Workforce Analytics and Compliance Practice Group will continue to monitor developments and will provide updates on the Cross-Border, Pay Equity, and Workforce Analytics and Compliance blogs as additional information becomes available.

Daniella McGuigan is a partner in the London office of Ogletree Deakins and co-chair of the firm’s Pay Equity Practice Group.

Emilia Mobius, a paralegal in the London office of Ogletree Deakins, contributed to this article.

Lorraine Matthews, a practice assistant in the London office of Ogletree Deakins, contributed to this article.

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