France's EU Pay Transparency Directive Bill Advances to the Senate

BLOG OVERVIEW: France’s government presented its EU Pay Transparency Directive transposition bill to the Council of Ministers on September 10, 2026, and filed it in the Senate as Bill No. 944 under the accelerated procedure. The bill replaces the Gender Equality Index with seven pay gap indicators for employers with 50 or more employees, requires salary ranges in job postings, and gives the Comité Social et Économique (CSE) a central role in categorization and remediation. It also introduces penalties of up to 2% of payroll, criminal sanctions, and public procurement exclusion, with the new regime expected to replace the Index from 2028.

Following months of consultation with social partners, the French government presented the transposition bill to the Council of Ministers on September 10, 2026, and formally deposited it in the Senate as Bill No. 944 (2025-2026). Transposition was accomplished through amendments principally to the Labor Code for the private sector (Title I) and to the General Civil Service Code for the public sector (Title II). Title II adapts the main private-sector principles—on the right to information, pay gap reporting, correction procedures, and sanctions—to the specific statutory characteristics of the civil service.

Notable provisions of the French transposition model are set out below:

1. New reporting framework replaces the Gender Equality Index. The current five-indicator Gender Equality Index is replaced by a new set of seven remuneration indicators for employers with at least 50 employees. The Impact Study confirms all seven indicators, which mirror those in the Directive. The seventh indicator is expressly identified in the bill as the gender pay gap by category of workers performing the same work or work of equal value. This indicator serves as the cornerstone of compliance, as it triggers both the obligation to establish equal-value worker categories and potential corrective action where unjustified pay disparities exceed a decreed threshold of 5% (per the Impact Study accompanying the bill). The first six indicators will be pre-calculated via the Déclaration Sociale Nominative (DSN) using employer payroll data and published on the Ministry of Labor's website and, optionally, the company's own website.

2. Mandatory salary range disclosure in job postings is stricter than the Directive. Employers in France are prohibited from publishing a job posting unless it includes the proposed salary range and relevant collective bargaining agreement provisions applicable to determining pay. The Directive only requires this information to be provided before or during the interview. Where no posting is published, the employer must provide this information in writing before or during the interview.

3. Lower reporting threshold: 50 employees instead of the Directive's 100. The 50-employee threshold aligns with France's existing equality index framework. The bill nonetheless provides lighter obligations for employers with 50 to 99 employees. For instance, employers with 100 or more employees must consult with the Comité Social et Économique (CSE), France’s mandatory employee representative body, regarding calculation data, methodology, and indicator gaps. On the other hand, employers with 50 to 99 employees must only inform the CSE on these matters. Additionally, the pay gap by equal-value category indicator is reported every three years and may be waived by company-level collective agreement; and rather than the joint pay assessment required of larger employers, employers with 50 to 99 employees must undertake mandatory negotiations with trade unions on professional equality or, failing agreement, adopt a unilateral action plan.

4. Expanded criteria for defining work of equal value. The bill adds non-technical (soft) skills and working conditions to the existing Labor Code criteria of professional knowledge and experience, skills acquired through experience, responsibilities, and physical or mental workload.

5. Two-Tier Process for Establishing Worker Categories. Categories must first be established by company-level collective agreement. Where no company agreement is reached, the employer may proceed by unilateral decision after consulting the CSE, with that decision valid for three years. Separately, representative employer and employee organizations at the branch level should initiate negotiations with a view to concluding, where appropriate, a branch-level agreement for a methodology for worker categorization within six months of the law's promulgation. This methodology for worker categorization determined at branch level may be used in company agreements or employer decisions.

6. Right to request explanations — including where gaps are small. For employers with at least 100 employees, any employee, the CSE, or trade union representatives may request details and justification regarding pay gap indicators even when reported gaps fall below the corrective-action threshold. Employers must provide a reasoned response and inform the CSE. However, employers are not required to respond to abusive requests—in particular, those that are excessive in number, repetitive, or systematic.

7. Expanded and central role for the CSE. The CSE is a central participant in the compliance and remediation process, particularly for employers with at least 100 employees. Its involvement is required when: (a) the employer is deciding how to categorize workers for equal-value comparisons; (b) assessing whether a material pay gap can be objectively justified; (c) determining corrective measures; (d) proceeding to a Joint Pay Assessment; and (e) monitoring implementation of remediation measures. Moreover, the CSE plays a confidentiality intermediary role when an employee requests pay information and disclosure of average pay within the requesting worker's category could indirectly reveal an identifiable individual's salary.

8. Strengthened burden of proof and expanded comparator evidence. Where an employer breaches specified pay transparency obligations, the burden of proof in discrimination claims shifts automatically to the employer; the employee need not first establish facts suggesting discrimination. This reversal does not apply where the employer demonstrates the breach was manifestly unintentional and minor.

The bill also expands the types of evidence available; where no actual comparator can be identified, an employee or job applicant may rely on any evidence, including statistical data, to support a discrimination claim.

9. Stronger sanctions, including criminal penalties and procurement exclusion.

• Administrative penalty of up to 1% of annual gross payroll for failures in pay-gap reporting, publication, transmission of indicators, or corrective measures; up to 2% for repeat violations within five years.

• Up to €450 per violation for specified individual transparency failures (e.g., failure to provide required pay information to employees or candidates); up to €900 for repeat offenses within five years.

• Increase in existing criminal penalties where an employer commits a sex-based discrimination violation under the Labor Code against multiple individuals: the legal representative or person with decision-making authority over remuneration may face up to two years' imprisonment and a €7,500 fine.

• Employers who, following an administrative sanction, continue to fail required reporting or corrective-action obligations may be excluded from public procurement and concession contract procedures for one year.

10. Phased implementation by employer size. While the first six indicators are reported annually via DSN, the equal-value pay gap indicator will follow a separate phased schedule:

Meanwhile, employee rights to pay information commence when the company agreement or employer’s unilateral decision establishing categories of workers performing the same work or work of equal value takes effect and, in any event, no later than the implementation date specified under Article 21(II) of the proposal, which is aligned with the phased rollout of the seventh-indicator reporting regime (outlined above). From that date, employers must respond within two months to written employee requests for their own pay level and the gender-disaggregated average pay of same-category workers.

What comes into force immediately on enactment: The ban on salary history inquiries, the obligation to include salary ranges in job postings, and the ban on pay secrecy clauses (and prospective neutralization of existing ones) enter into force immediately. The broader pay transparency and reporting framework will take effect on dates set by decree, within one year after promulgation—subject to the specific transitional provision for employee information rights, and phased implementation of the seventh indicator outlined above. The Government expects the current Gender Equality Index to remain in place through the 2027 reporting cycle, with the new seven-indicator regime replacing it from 2028.

Legislative status: The bill was filed under the accelerated procedure, under which each chamber conducts a single reading rather than the standard two. The Senate Committee on Social Affairs will examine the bill before plenary debate. As of October 2026, no examination date had been scheduled.