BeNe Employment Newsflash #2

Draft bill published for implementation of the EU Gender Pay Transparency Directive

On 26 March 2025, the Dutch government published a bill to implement the Pay Transparency Directive. The consultation of the public closed on 7 May 2025. Both the House of Representatives and the Senate will now have to approve the bill. The anticipated entry into force date is 7 June 2026.

For now, the bill contains only the minimum requirements under the Directive, although some elements are an interpretation of what the Directive requires (eg the involvement of the works council). It’s possible that changes may be made to the draft bill during its passage through the legislative process, and the actual legislation that comes into effect may differ on specific topics. The final legislation is expected to come into force on 7 June 2026.

The bill also requires several ministerial regulations to further implement it (eg on what are considered equal positions, and the salary components to be taken into account). These regulations have not yet been drafted. Under the proposed bill, employers will need to focus more on the existence of potential gender pay gaps in their business and take steps to actively assess and address them.

 

Work of the same value

Under the bill, employers will need to actively identify work that has the same value, which is the starting point of the obligations under the bill. The assessment will need to be done on the basis of “pay structures” that will need to be established:

• The pay structures to be implemented will require the consent of the works council before implementation.
• Pay structures can be seen as a job evaluation and job classification system based on objective criteria. If no collective labour agreement applies, employers will need to establish pay structures themselves. If pay structures already exist, employers will need to determine whether the current systems include objective and gender-neutral criteria. If not, a new structure will need to be implemented. This would require consent of the works council. Changes to a current system also require the consent of the works council.
• Pay structures must include all criteria relevant for a specific position and must include the required skills, efforts, responsibilities and employment conditions.

The pay structures will lead to “employee categories” for people who work in positions of the “same value”. Where an employer determines that two positions have the “same value” (even though it concerns different work in different positions), the employees in those positions should – other than where there is objective justification on an individual level – receive the same salary. Performing another position is not itself an objective justification.

Whether there is a gender pay gap is determined per employee category (ie between those who perform work of the same value). Objective justification for any pay gap could include factors such as seniority, years of service and work experience or, in some circumstances, matters such as job performance and work results.

Addressing an unjustified pay gap

If there is an unjustified gender pay gap, employers must address it within a reasonable period. Any steps to address the gap can only be implemented with the consent of the works council. If the pay gap isn’t addressed within a reasonable period, employers will have to perform an extensive “salary evaluation”, which will also require the consent of the works council.

When any gender pay gaps aren’t fully remediated, the Dutch Labour Inspectorate can take enforcement action. This situation will also create an assumption that the employer is discriminating on the basis of gender, which employees can use in court proceedings, making such proceedings easier for employees. Employers do, however, have the opportunity to provide counter evidence that this isn’t the case (but this will be difficult if no predetermined criteria have been set).

Internal and external reporting on pay information

Internally, employers must make information on pay readily available to employees. This includes:

• giving employees easy access to the criteria used for determining salary and salary levels;
• where an employer has 50 or more employees, providing employees with easy access to the criteria used for determining the wage development of employees (eg which performance criteria influence the salary increases); and
• upon request, providing employees with written information about their individual salary level and the average salary levels for employee categories (specified by gender).

Externally, employers also have to report the following information:

• the gender pay gap
• the gender pay gap for additional and variable salary components
• the median gender pay gap
• the median gender pay gap for additional and variable salary components
• the proportion of male and female employees that receive additional and variable salary components
• the proportion of male and female employees in every quartile salary scale
• the pay gap between employees, broken down by categories of employees and by base salaries and additional or variable components

Employers with 250 or more employees will have to report annually from June 2027. Employers with 150-249 employees will have to report every three years, starting from June 2027. And employers with 100-149 employees will also have to report every three years, starting from June 2031.  Employers with fewer than 100 employees won’t have to report.

The works council must be consulted on the information before communicating it internally and publishing it externally (but the works council has no actual right of consent on the information itself). The information will then need to be published on a central government website.

In addition to fulfilling the external reporting obligations, employers will also need to provide information on the salary or salary range when offering open positions. The salary must be based on objective and gender-neutral criteria. The information must be provided in such a way that informed and transparent discussions can take place regarding the salary for the position. Employers will no longer be allowed to ask job candidates about their salary history with their current, or previous, employer.

 

A new chapter for Belgium’s labour market

Following the federal elections in June 2024, Belgium’s new government was officially formed in January 2025. One of its top priorities is comprehensive labour market reform. The goal is to create a more dynamic, flexible, and cost-effective system that maintains social protection.

The Federal Coalition Agreement for 2025-2029 sets out a broad range of proposals. While many are still under discussion, some concrete actions have already been taken.

 

Some key HR aspects of the coalition agreement

The new Belgian federal government, ”De Wever I”, has announced several significant legal reforms aimed at creating a more attractive labour market. These changes include:

• Boosting employment and reducing labour costs. From 2027, net wages, especially for employees earning below the median, will rise due to reduced social contributions and expanded tax exemptions. Employers will also no longer owe social security contributions on the portion of salaries exceeding the Prime Minister’s monthly gross salary (about EUR22,5 thousand today). The minimum wage will increase in two phases – first in April 2026, then again in 2028. While Belgium’s automatic wage indexation system will remain, social partners are expected to propose potential reforms by the end of 2026.
• Accordion-work schedules: employees and employers will be able to agree to consider compliance with working time limits on a yearly basis, instead of weekly or daily as is currently the case. Presumably the implementing act will still add maximum and minimum boundaries (reflected in, for example, min/max hours per week) to avoid excesses. This new schedule type would maximize flexibility, which could in turn be beneficial for a better work-life balance, for example considering school hours.
• Belgium will revise overtime rules. Overtime will become more flexible by introducing higher maximum limits for voluntary overtime and by introducing significant several tax and social security exemptions.
• Changes to night work are also underway. The general ban on night work will be lifted. In distribution and e-commerce, night shifts will begin at midnight instead of 8 pm. Employees currently working evening shifts will retain their premiums.
• Regarding dismissals, severance pay for new hires will be capped at 52 weeks. A six-month trial period with a one-week notice period will be reintroduced.
• Flexi-jobs, a specific system under which retired employees and other specific employee categories can (continue to) work according to a favourable social security and tax regime, will be expanded to all sectors (compared to a limited number of sectors today).
• Abolishing the general obligation to include all work schedules in the work regulations (which requires the consent of the works council or following a staff consultation procedure in companies that don’t have a works council), if the limitations to flexible working are clearly set out in the work regulations.

In addition to these changes, further reforms have been announced concerning protection against dismissal, incapacity to work, early retirement and retirement, compensation and benefits, and immigration.

Actions already undertaken by the government

Even though we’re still awaiting the actual “important” changes, several actions have already been undertaken in the meantime:

• Federal Learning Account (FLA): Mandatory registration in the FLA has been postponed to 1 September 2025. The government is also considering simplifying or abolishing the system due to administrative burdens.
• Meal vouchers: A draft bill increased the maximum employer contribution by EUR2 in May 2025 (to EUR8.91), with a further EUR2 increase planned for January 2027. The aim is to extend access to all employees by 2028.
• Student jobs: The annual cap for tax-friendly student work has been raised from 475 to 650 hours.
• Early retirement phase-out: An agreement has been reached between the social partners to abolish the “unemployment with company allowance” scheme as of 1 July 2025 (a specific early retirement regime, where the employee gets unemployment benefits plus payments from the employer until reaching the legal retirement age; SWT-RCC). As of this date, no new entries into the SWT-RCC system will be allowed, except for specific cases such as medical SWT-RCC. Employees already benefiting from SWT-RCC on 1 July 2025 will retain their vested rights.

Several additional measures are currently being drafted or announced under the “Eastern Agreement” reached within the federal government.

This agreement still has to be transposed into law, but we expect some movement soon on long-term sick leave, implementing social security reductions, and reforming end-of-career schemes.

While the details of many of these initiatives are still being worked out, the overall direction is clear: Belgium is moving toward a more modern, flexible, and sustainable labour market. We will continue to monitor developments closely and provide further updates as legislation progresses.