Vilnius: The pay transparency directive deadline of 7 June 2026 passed with only four of 27 member states ready, according to the European Trade Union Confederation. Italy, Lithuania, Malta and Slovakia had transposed the law by the time the ETUC published its count in July, and the union body wants the Commission to act against the rest.

The pay transparency directive requires employers to reveal pay information and report on gender gaps, mainly in companies with more than 100 employees. Smaller firms face lighter obligations that phase in gradually. The Commission has said it expects full compliance, and its page on EU action on equal pay explains the framework.

The ETUC backed its call with analysis from the European Trade Union Institute. If the current gender pay gap of 11 percent persists, the average working woman earns about 3,800 euros a year less than the average man. Across the 92.5 million working women in the EU, the union puts the annual loss at more than 358 billion euros.

A modest gain would still matter. The ETUI estimates that a 10 percent cut in the gap would leave the average woman 672 euros a year better off, and the 43 million women who work for companies covered by the pay transparency directive would together gain 28 billion euros. Eurostat data for 2024 show women’s gross hourly earnings 11.1 percent below men’s, almost unchanged over a decade.

ETUC General Secretary Esther Lynch warned that inaction would cost women workers billions in lost wages. Deputy General Secretary Isabelle Schömann said any government that avoids its legal responsibility can expect to be taken to court. Only the Commission can open infringement proceedings, and member states set the penalties for businesses, which must be effective, proportionate and deterrent.

Employers should not read the pay transparency directive delay as a reprieve. Companies that operate in several countries face a patchwork, with binding national rules in Italy, Lithuania, Malta and Slovakia and none yet in most other capitals. Payroll teams that wait for every capital to finish risk a rush once national laws arrive.

The figures come from union sources and the July count is now months old, so more states may have acted since. The next step to watch is whether the Commission sends formal notices, because the pay transparency directive only changes pay practices if governments finish transposing it in 2026.