How many times have you applied for a job offer without knowing how much you would earn? And how many times has the salary been revealed only at the end of a long selection process, after interviews, tests and weeks of waiting?
For millions of European workers this practice could soon become a memory. With the entry into force of the European directive on salary transparency, companies will be obliged to communicate in advance the salary expected for a job position, putting an end to one of the most opaque areas of the labor market.
A small revolution that aims not only to make the relationship between companies and candidates more transparent, but also to combat one of the most persistent inequalities in the world of work: the salary gap between men and women.
The salary must be communicated before the interview
The most important innovation introduced by European Directive 2023/970 concerns the moment of application. Job seekers will have the right to know the starting salary expected for the position or the related salary range before even having the interview.
The information can be inserted directly into the job advertisement or communicated by the employer before meeting the candidate. Upon request, it will also be possible to obtain information on the collective agreement applied to the position. All this with the aim of allowing people to evaluate an offer in an informed way and prevent the salary from becoming the subject of non-transparent or discriminatory negotiations.
Companies will no longer be able to ask how much you earned before
Among the most significant changes there is also a ban on employers asking candidates for information on their previous salary. A still very widespread practice which, according to the European Commission, contributes to perpetuating wage inequalities throughout working life.
In fact, if a worker has been underpaid in the past, basing the new offer on the previous salary risks carrying that penalty into subsequent employment relationships.
The new rules also require that all selection procedures be conducted according to neutral and non-discriminatory criteria.
Furthermore, the directive introduces new rights also for those who are already employed: workers will be able to request information on their salary level and compare it with the average one received by colleagues who carry out the same work or tasks of equal value.
The data must be provided in aggregate form and separated by gender, so as to make it easier to identify any disparities.
For many people it will be the first concrete opportunity to understand whether unjustified salary differences exist within the same company.
When everything changes in Italy
The European directive must be implemented by all member states by 7 June 2026. Italy has already moved in advance. In fact, last April 30th the Government approved the transposition decree which introduces the new provisions on salary transparency into our system.
This means that soon indicating the RAL (Gross Annual Salary) or a salary range in advertisements will no longer be an optional choice or a good practice adopted by a few companies, but an obligation. An innovation that could help make the labor market more transparent, reduce imbalances in salary negotiations and help job seekers make more informed choices.
Because knowing in advance how much a job is worth should not be a privilege, but a minimum condition of correctness.
