Italy Implements the EU Pay Transparency Directive: A Guide to the Final Decree

With the publication in the Official Gazette on June 1, 2026 of Legislative Decree No. 96 of 7 May 2026, Italy has become one of the first EU member states to formally implement the EU Pay Transparency Directive (2023/970/EU), meeting the June 7, 2026, transposition deadline. The decree enters into force on June 7, 2026.

Italy’s choice to anchor the reform to the national collective bargaining framework — a feature we highlighted when the draft was first published (see here) — is confirmed in the final text. 

This article examines the key provisions and their practical implications for employers operating in Italy.

A Distinctly Italian Approach: The Central Role of the NCBA

The most distinctive feature of Italy’s implementation — confirmed in the final text — is the central role assigned to national collective bargaining agreements (NCBAs, or contratti collettivi nazionali di lavoro) as the primary framework for assessing “same work” and “work of equal value.”

Employers may supplement the NCBA framework with their own internal job classification and evaluation systems, provided these are objective and gender-neutral. However, internal systems may only integrate — and not replace — the NCBA framework.

Pre-Employment Transparency

All job postings must specify the initial pay or pay range for the position, determined on the basis of objective and gender-neutral criteria, as well as a reference to the relevant provisions of the applicable NCBA. Asking candidates for information about their current or past salaries — even indirectly or through recruitment agencies — is prohibited.

One point worth noting: the reference to a “pay range” without further specification leaves considerable discretion to employers, potentially allowing for ranges so wide as to be of limited informational value to candidates. 

Transparency in the Employment Relationship

The criteria for determining salary and salary progression must be made available to employees, generally by updating the information notice required under Legislative Decree No. 152/1997 or by referring to the applicable NCBA. This obligation regarding pay progression criteria applies only to employers with 50 or more employees; smaller employers are exempt. 

The Right to Request Information (RTI)

Employees have the right to request and receive in writing, within two months of the request, information on their individual pay level and on the average pay levels — broken down by sex — of categories of workers performing the same work or work of equal value. This, too, is a day-one right, so there is no grace period in which an employer will be given time to prepare to handle any RTI. 

This right may also be exercised through workers’ representatives or equality bodies, and may not be exercised more than once per year. Employers may alternatively fulfill this obligation by proactively publishing the relevant information on their intranet or company website, and must in any event inform all workers annually of their right to submit a request and of the procedures for doing so.

A point of considerable practical significance concerns the definition of “pay level” used for these purposes. The decree defines it as the gross annual remuneration and the corresponding gross hourly rate, understood as the totality of continuous and fixed pay elements, expressly excluding non-structural individual components — namely, pay elements awarded on a personal, discretionary or temporary basis that are not generalized across the same worker category. In practice, individual discretionary bonuses, variable incentives, and individual pay supplements may fall outside the scope of the right to information.

Data Protection and Small Categories

As a new addition, the final text introduces an important safeguard: Article 11(2) provides that if responding to an RTI would involve the direct or indirect disclosure of an identifiable individual employee’s remuneration, access to that information is restricted exclusively to workers’ representatives, the Labour Inspectorate and the competent equality bodies. This provision applies regardless of the size of the employer, and directly addresses the practical concern that arises in any organization — large or small — where a worker category comprises only a small number of individuals.

A specific rule applies to employers with fewer than 49 employees: Article 7(8) provides that, in order to avoid the direct or indirect identification of individual workers in accordance with GDPR, these employers may provide RTI information using the operational modalities to be defined by separate ministerial decree. Pending such guidance, smaller employers should assess on a case-by-case basis how to provide the required information while protecting individual privacy.

Gender Pay Gap Reporting and Joint Assessments

The reporting obligations apply to employers with at least 100 employees, with a phased timeline: employers with 250 or more employees must report annually, with the first submission due by June 7, 2027; those with 150–249 employees must report every three years with the first submission due on the same June 7, 2027; and those with 100–149 employees are subject to triennial reporting from June 7, 2031. Employers below the 100-employee threshold are not subject to reporting obligations.

Where the data reveals an unexplained gender pay gap of 5% or more in any worker category, additional compliance requirements are triggered. The employer must first justify the gap based on objective and gender-neutral criteria. If the gap remains unjustified and is not corrected within six months of the reporting date, the employer is required to conduct a joint pay assessment with workers’ representatives — a structured procedure aimed at identifying, correcting and preventing unjustified pay differentials.

What Employers Should Do Now

The decree is now in force. Employers operating in Italy should, as a matter of priority:

• Review job posting templates to ensure they include the required pay range and NCBA reference.
• Train the HR team and external recruiters on the prohibition against pay history inquiries.
• Update the information notice required under Legislative Decree No. 152/1997.
• Map their workforce against the applicable NCBA classification levels — this is the foundation for RTI compliance and equal pay assessments.
• Put in place an RTI process, including a written response procedure capable of delivering accurate responses within two months.

Further implementing decrees and ministerial guidance are expected to follow, particularly on reporting modalities and the operational details of the equal value assessment framework.