Further Developments on France’s Draft Pay Transparency Bill

On September 10, 2026, a new version of the preliminary draft bill transposing the EU Pay Transparency Directive into French national law was unveiled and presented to the Council of Ministers. The text has undergone significant editorial revisions, without any substantial changes to its overall structure. 

The main mechanisms for pay transparency have not changed:

• The obligation to state a starting pay range in job advertisements;
• The prohibition on asking job applicants for details of their current or previous remuneration;
• The prohibition on including salary non-disclosure clauses in employment contracts;
• The individual right of every employee to request information on their average remuneration level and on the average remuneration levels, broken down by gender, of employees in their category of work of equal status or equal value;
• The requirement for any company with at least 50 employees to report on indicators relating to the gender pay gap. (Note, pre-existing French legislation requires a form of reporting for employers with at least 50 employees. Like the initial implementing draft, the new proposal is also more stringent than the Directive’s 100-employee mandatory reporting threshold by keeping the 50-employee threshold already in existence).

This new version is, however, not without changes and introduces several notable clarifications or adjustments.

Clarifications on the concept of remuneration?

As in previous versions of the text, the task of specifying which elements of remuneration are to be taken into account – particularly for the calculation of remuneration levels – remains a matter for the regulatory authorities. 

The new draft, however, provides an interesting clarification by expressly referring to Article L. 3221-3 of the Labor Code to define the concept of remuneration. This same provision already forms the basis for the definition of remuneration used in the context of the gender equality index.

Subject to further clarification to be provided by regulation, this reference could therefore suggest that the remuneration base currently used for the gender equality index will also be applied when implementing the rules on pay transparency. In this scenario, certain elements would remain excluded from the calculation of remuneration levels, in particular sums paid in respect of employee savings schemes, as well as remuneration for overtime and additional hours.

Time limit for the employer to respond to an individual request

The text now specifies that the employer has a time limit, the duration of which will be set by decree but may not exceed two months, to respond to an employee’s request regarding their average remuneration level and the average remuneration levels applicable to their job category.

Refusal to provide information

The new text broadens the grounds the employer may invoke with regard to both a refusal to comply with an individual request for information from an employee and the failure to disclose the results of the indicator relating to pay gaps between women and men within a category of workers performing the same work or work of equal value.

Per the text, an employer may refuse to disclose the requested information where such disclosure is likely to result, directly or indirectly, in the disclosure of details relating to the remuneration of an identifiable employee. Among the situations that may justify such a refusal is, in particular, the case where the number of employees of at least one of the two genders within the relevant category falls below a threshold to be set by decree.

The scope of this exception has thus been significantly broadened. While the previous version appeared to make the condition relating to the number of employees in the category a prerequisite for refusing to disclose information, the new wording allows the employer to invoke any ground that could lead to the indirect identification of an employee’s remuneration.

Furthermore, the condition relating to the number of employees has been revised. The previous version referred to the total number of employees comprising the relevant category, without distinction as to gender. The new wording adopts an approach more consistent with the objective pursued by now focusing on the number of employees belonging to at least one of the two genders within that category, a criterion that is more relevant for assessing the risk of individual identification.

Reporting of indicators

The explanatory memorandum accompanying this new version of the draft bill specifies that there will be seven indicators to be published, corresponding to those set out in the Directive. It also states that the threshold for the average pay gap between women and men in the same category of workers, which triggers the obligation to implement corrective measures, will be set at 5%.

The draft bill also extends the right to obtain explanations regarding the published indicators. In companies with at least 100 employees, the Social and Economic Committee (“CSE”), employees and trade union representatives will now be able to request further details on all the indicators reported. In previous versions of the text, this right was limited solely to the indicator relating to the average pay gap between women and men in the same category of workers.

Finally, very minor amendments were made to the procedures for reducing pay gaps. The text grants the administrative authority the power to issue a formal notice where it is found that the required measures have not been implemented. Furthermore, the methods for calculating the headcount taken into account will now be determined by a regulatory power, whereas previous versions of the draft bill defined them directly.

Definition of categories of work of equal work or equal value

Among the objective criteria that may be taken into account when assessing whether work is of equal value, the text now adds technical skills to the criteria already set out, namely professional knowledge, experience, non-technical skills, responsibilities, working conditions and physical or mental strain. This concept refers to the mastery of specific technical expertise.

Furthermore, the role of the industry sector (“secteur”) is evolving. While the previous version provided for the commencement of negotiations directly concerning the categorization of employees performing work of equal value or of equal standing, the new text now aims to establish a method for categorization. The industry sector is therefore no longer responsible for defining employee categories itself, but rather for providing a methodological framework that can be used by companies.

Consequently, the preferred means of establishing categories remains the company-level agreement; failing that, the employer establishes them by unilateral decision, with the employer being given the option to apply the method defined by the sector.

Penalties

The new version of the draft bill does not call into question the general structure of the sanctions already provided. It does, however, introduce a new instance of a financial penalty applicable where the works council (CSE) has not been consulted on the action plan drawn up by the employer following a joint assessment report.

Furthermore, the draft sets out the circumstances in which a penalty of 450 euros may be imposed in the event of a breach of the provisions relating, on the one hand, to the employee’s individual right to obtain information about their remuneration and, on the other hand, to the right to request explanations regarding the indicators.

Timetable

The parliamentary timetable for this bill remains uncertain; the Minister for Labor hopes it will be adopted by the end of February 2027, but nothing is guaranteed.

In the meantime, the Ministry of Labor, in a press release dated September 10, confirmed that “in order to allow sufficient time for the various stakeholders to adapt (…), the current reporting of the professional equality index will continue in 2027 . . .this will ensure employers have the visibility required for the smooth running of the 2027 declaration and to anticipate the transition to the indicators of the directive starting in 2028.”

Despite the hint of additional time to prepare in France, we recommend that employers do not slow down compliance efforts.