We recently reported on work on the Act on Strengthening the Application of the Law on Equal Remuneration for Men and Women for Equal Work or Work of Equal Value, which aims to fully implement Directive (EU) 2023/970 of the European Parliament and of the Council into Polish law. The first version of the draft bill, which reveals the details of the upcoming regulations, has been published on the Government Legislation Centre website.
Job evaluation
According to the draft law, one of the new obligations for employers is job evaluation. Employers will therefore be required to assess the value of a specific type of work or position. To this end, they will be required to establish and apply criteria that are gender-neutral and exclude direct or indirect discrimination based on gender, taking into account soft skills if they are required for the specific type of work or position.
It will be permissible to pay employees differently for the same work or work of equal value, provided that this is based on objective, gender-neutral and bias-free criteria (achievements, competences).
Pay transparency
Another obligation for employers will be to define criteria for determining employee remuneration, salary levels and salary increases in an objective and gender-neutral manner, excluding any direct or indirect discrimination on grounds of gender.
The employer will be obliged to make information about the criteria available to employees (in the case of employing fewer than 50 employees – only upon request).
An employee cannot be prevented from disclosing information about his or her remuneration in order to exercise rights arising from the principle of equal treatment in employment.
Pay Gap Report
Employers with at least 100 employees will be required to prepare a pay gap report. The pay gap is the difference between the average pay of women and the average pay of men employed by the employer.
The report will be submitted to the monitoring body by 31 March of the given calendar year:
- every three years for employers employing at least 100 employees,
- annually for employers employing at least 250 employees.
Some of the information from the report will be published by the monitoring body on its website (for the previous four years).
If the report shows that the gender pay gap is at least 5% and is not justified by objective, gender-neutral criteria, the employer will be obliged to take remedial action within 6 months of the date of submission of the report.
Sanctions
Failure to comply with the obligations under the Act is subject to sanctions in the form of a fine ranging from PLN 3,000 to PLN 50,000.
Furthermore, the bill aims to expand the list of offenses covered by the Labor Code. An employer or a person acting on behalf of an employer will be subject to a fine ranging from PLN 1,000 to PLN 30,000 for:
- obtaining personal data other than those listed in Article 22[1] § 1 and § 2 of the Labor Code,
- failure to provide the person applying for employment with the information referred to in Article 18[3ca] §1 of the Labor Code (on remuneration and relevant provisions of the collective agreement or remuneration regulations),
- not using gender-neutral job titles in recruitment announcements.
Summary
The planned implementation of Directive 2023/970 into the Polish legal system, which is to take place by 7 June 2026, means new obligations for employers, so it is worth taking a closer look at the principles of job evaluation in the organization at this stage and starting preparations for the upcoming changes.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
The law is current as of January 8, 2025.
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