Joint Pay Assessment

Joint pay assessment from a 5 % pay gap (Art. 10 Directive 2023/970)

26 April 2026 · Category: AGG · Compliance-Kit

TL;DR

A joint pay assessment under Art. 10 of the Pay Transparency Directive (Directive (EU) 2023/970) is a joint assessment with the employee representation that employers subject to reporting under Art. 9 (100 or more workers) must carry out where the pay gap for a category of workers (equal or equivalent work) is at least 5 % AND cannot be explained by objective, gender-neutral criteria AND is not corrected within 6 months of the pay reporting.

What is a Joint Pay Assessment?

Three cumulative conditions:

A pay gap of at least 5 % for a category of workers
Not explainable by objective criteria (experience, qualifications, etc.)
Not corrected within 6 months

Content of the assessment:

Analysis of the causes of the gap
Action plan for correction
Implementation tracking
The result is made known within the company

Practical example

Fictitious example: in its pay reporting, a 250-employee company finds a difference of 8 % to the detriment of women in the category 'senior software developer'. The employer cannot justify it on objective, gender-neutral criteria and does not correct it within six months → joint pay assessment with the employee representation: analysis of causes, correction plan, pay increases.

Legal position in Germany and Austria

The joint pay assessment is based on the EU Pay Transparency Directive 2023/970 (Art. 10). As an EU directive it applies throughout the Union and must be transposed into national law by all Member States – including Germany and Austria – by 7 June 2026. The joint pay assessment and its three cumulative conditions (pay gap of at least 5 %, not explainable by objective gender-neutral criteria, not corrected within 6 months) are therefore the same in substance in both countries. What differs is the national transposing act and the employee representation body.

Germany

The employee representation for the purposes of the assessment is the works council under the German Works Constitution Act (BetrVG), where one exists. As at 17 August 2026, no German transposing act was in place.

Austria

Austria must also transpose Directive 2023/970; as at 17 August 2026 no federal act doing so was in place. Once transposed, the obligation to carry out a joint pay assessment applies in the same way. Here the employee representation is the works council under the Austrian Labour Constitution Act (ArbVG).

Frequently asked questions

From when does the obligation apply?

The transposition deadline of the directive expired on 7 June 2026. The directive does not bind employers directly; it takes effect through national transposing law, and as at 17 August 2026 no transposing act was in place in either Germany or Austria. The trigger is the pay reporting under Art. 9: employers with 150 or more workers report for the first time by 7 June 2027, employers with 100 to 149 workers for the first time by 7 June 2031.

Who is the employee representation?

The directive refers to workers' representatives in accordance with national law and/or practice (Art. 3(1)(m) Directive 2023/970). In Germany: the works council, where one exists; for establishments without a works council this remains open until the German transposing act. In Austria: the works council under the Austrian Labour Constitution Act (ArbVG).

Do the results have to be published?

Within the company, yes: the employer makes the joint pay assessment available to workers and the employee representation and communicates it to the national monitoring body (Art. 10(3) Directive 2023/970). Art. 10 does not require external publication.