On 25 November 2025, the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy (MRPiPS) published the assumptions of the draft law implementing Directive 2023/970.
The full legislative text will be published in the coming days, where we will provide an in-depth article on how it should be interpreted. This article is a direct translation of the assumptions published by the Polish ministries and will be guidelines for what to expect from the implementation draft.
Before providing you with the translation of the assumptions, here are several points that you should pay attention to:
- The policy of pay progression will also apply to employers with fewer than 50 employees (provided upon employee request), which means small employers will most likely still need to have such a policy.
- Employers are to provide employees with information on the initial level of remuneration or its range - which, if kept in the final text, would go beyond the Directive (which applies this obligation only to candidates).
- Reporting obligations seem to remain limited to employers with at least 100 employees.
- Reporting will be submitted to an IT tool delivered by the President of Statistics Poland (GUS) and made available via the monitoring authority. The reports will be available externally, except for the pay gaps concerning 'category of workers'. These pay gaps must be provided to employees proactively, without waiting for a request.
- Employers will have 14 days to provide information to the equality body or labour inspector and 14 days to justify pay differences identified in the report.
- The draft provides for fines from PLN 2,000 to PLN 60,000 for failing to comply with obligations such as job evaluation, information access, reporting, joint pay assessment, or applying corrective measures.
- The National Labour Inspectorate (PIP) receives a significantly expanded mandate, including training, demanding detailed GPG data, initiating claims on behalf of employees/candidates, and participating in implementing corrective measures.
This article, and above interpretations are thanks to the great work of Adam Seoudi, who relentlessly follows Pay Transparency in a Polish context.
(Below is a direct, literal translation of the provided Polish text. No interpretation. No stylistic changes.)
____________________________________________
Objectives of the project and information on the reasons and the need for the solutions planned in the project:
The draft law on strengthening the application of the right to equal remuneration of men and women for equal work or for work of equal value aims to implement into the Polish legal order Directive (EU) 2023/970 of the European Parliament and of the Council on strengthening the application of the principle of equal pay for men and women for equal work or work of equal value through pay transparency mechanisms and enforcement mechanisms, hereinafter referred to as "the Directive".
The Directive entered into force on 6 June 2023, and the deadline for its implementation into national law is 7 June 2026.
The Directive aims to strengthen the practical application and enforcement of the already existing principle of equal remuneration of men and women for equal work. The Directive aims to eliminate pay discrimination on the grounds of sex. In the European Union the gender pay gap continues to persist - in 2020 it amounted to 13% - with significant differences between Member States - and in the last decade it has decreased only slightly. In 2023 the gender pay gap in Poland amounted to 7.8% and was lower than the EU average of 12.0%.
In the assessment of the application of Directive 2006/54/EC of 2020 it was concluded that the application of the principle of equal pay is hindered due to a lack of transparency of pay systems, lack of legal certainty regarding the concept of work of equal value, and procedural obstacles faced by victims of discrimination. Workers do not have information necessary to effectively pursue claims regarding equal remuneration, in particular information on the pay levels of individual categories of workers performing the same work or work of equal value.
It was found that greater transparency would allow the disclosure of prejudices and discrimination on the grounds of sex within the pay structures of an enterprise or organisation. It would also enable workers, employers and social partners to take appropriate measures to ensure the application of the right to equal remuneration for the same work or work of equal value.
It is therefore necessary to introduce binding measures leading to increased pay transparency, encouraging employers to review their pay structures to ensure pay equality for men and women performing equal work or work of equal value, and to introduce legal measures enabling workers discriminated against in terms of remuneration on the grounds of sex to exercise their right to equal pay.
The Directive introduces, among other things, measures in the field of pay transparency and claims enforcement.
In the field of pay transparency the Directive provides in particular the following measures:
- ensuring that workers have easy access to the criteria for determining the remuneration of workers, pay levels and pay progression. These criteria must be objective and gender-neutral (in accordance with Article 6(1) of the Directive);
- the right of workers to request from the employer information on their own pay level and, in addition, the average pay levels, broken down by sex, in relation to the categories of workers performing the same work as they do or work of equal value to their work (in accordance with Article 7(1) of the Directive);
- the obligation of employers employing at least 100 workers to provide the following information concerning their organisation: the gender pay gap, the gender pay gap in the form of supplementary or variable components, the median gender pay gap, the median gender pay gap in the form of supplementary or variable components, the percentage of female and male workers receiving supplementary or variable components, the percentage of female and male workers in each pay quartile, the gender pay gap among workers broken down by categories of workers, according to the ordinary basic hourly or monthly pay and supplementary or variable components. The frequency of reporting depends on the size of the employer (annually or every three years). These are always information relating only to the previous calendar year. All information is submitted to the monitoring authority. All of them, except the gender pay gap among workers broken down by categories of workers, are published by the monitoring authority and may be published by the employer e.g. on their website. The gender pay gap among workers broken down by categories of workers is not made public.
Employers provide this information to all their workers and their representatives (proactively, without waiting for a request), and upon request also to the labour inspector and the equality body (Article 9(9) of the Directive). Workers, workers' representatives, the labour inspectorate and the equality body have the right to request from the employer additional explanations and details concerning any submitted data, including explanations regarding any differences in pay on the grounds of sex. The employer must provide a justified answer to such requests within a reasonable time. If pay differences on the grounds of sex are not justified by objective, gender-neutral criteria, the employer is obliged to address them in close cooperation with workers' representatives, the labour inspectorate or the equality body (in accordance with Article 9(10) of the Directive).
- the obligation to conduct a joint pay assessment if the cumulative conditions of Article 10(1) of the Directive are met. This assessment is carried out by the employer jointly with workers' representatives and consists of reviewing and verifying pay structures. All categories of workers are analysed. Its element is also the identification of measures aimed at addressing pay differences if they are not justified by objective, gender-neutral criteria. Joint pay assessments should lead, within a reasonable time, to the elimination of pay discrimination on the grounds of sex through the adoption of corrective measures;
- ensuring that pay structures allow an assessment of whether workers are in comparable situations in relation to the value of work based on objective, gender-neutral criteria agreed with workers' representatives, where such representatives exist. These criteria may not be based directly or indirectly on the sex of workers. These criteria include skills, effort, responsibility and working conditions, and - where appropriate - any other factors that are relevant in a given workplace or position. They must be applied objectively and in a gender-neutral manner, excluding any direct or indirect discrimination on the grounds of sex. In particular, relevant soft skills may not be undervalued.
In the field of claim enforcement and obligations the Directive provides, among others, the following measures:
- the right of national courts or competent authorities to issue, at the request of the claimant and at the cost of the defendant, an order to cease the violation and an order to take measures to ensure that rights or obligations related to the principle of equal pay are applied (in accordance with Article 17(1) of the Directive);
- penalties in the event of violation of rights and obligations related to the principle of equal remuneration (in accordance with Article 23 of the Directive).
In Article 33 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland the right of women and men to equal remuneration for work of equal value was granted.
The Act of 26 June 1974 - the Labour Code (Journal of Laws of 2025, item 277, as amended), hereinafter referred to as "the Labour Code", in Article 183c establishes the right of workers to equal remuneration for equal work or for work of equal value. This principle applies to all workers regardless of sex. Remuneration within the meaning of this provision includes all components of remuneration, regardless of their name and nature, as well as other benefits related to work, granted to workers in monetary or non-monetary form. Work of equal value means work whose performance requires comparable professional qualifications, confirmed by documents provided for in separate regulations or by practice and professional experience, as well as comparable responsibility and effort.
In the field of pay transparency the employer is obliged, on the basis of Article 29 § 3 point 1 letter h of the Labour Code, to inform the worker, inter alia, about components of remuneration and monetary or in-kind benefits other than those agreed in the employment contract that the worker is entitled to.
In the field of determining remuneration for work Article 78 of the Labour Code applies. Remuneration determined on its basis should correspond to the type of work performed and the qualifications required for its performance, and take into account the quantity and quality of the work performed.
Currently, the Polish legal system lacks detailed regulations required by the Directive regarding the right to equal remuneration and pay transparency.
Therefore, the draft law implements issues that have not been regulated so far and arise from the Directive, without going beyond its scope. The implementation of the Directive cannot in any case be a reason for lowering the level of protection in the areas covered by the Directive. This means that if the Member State already has more favourable solutions in the field of the protection of workers' rights, they may not be worsened due to the implementation of the Directive.
The draft law provides for the imposition on all employers, including public-sector entities, of a number of obligations, including, among others, job evaluation, and for employers employing at least 100 workers also the obligation to report on the gender pay gap.
It should be noted that in the civil service job evaluation is already performed.
According to § 1 and 2 of the Ordinance No. 1 of the President of the Council of Ministers of 7 January 2011 on the principles of preparing job descriptions and job evaluation in the civil service (Official Gazette No. 5, item 61), a job description is drawn up for each job position in the civil service. The job description specifies the tasks performed, the required competences, qualifications and the scope of responsibility based on the placement and function of the position in the structure of the office. For this purpose, a job evaluation team is appointed in the office, which carries out job evaluation, except for the position of the director general of the office. The members of this team are appointed and dismissed by the person performing tasks in the field of labour law in the office. In the case of the civil service, it will be necessary to adapt the existing practice to the solutions arising from the Directive.
The essence of the solutions planned in the project, including the proposed implementation measures:
It is not possible to solve the problem through non-legislative actions; therefore it is necessary to prepare a draft law aimed at implementing Directive (EU) 2023/970… (Parts hereof has already been translated earlier - continuing with the new part)
The draft law on strengthening the application of the right to equal remuneration of men and women for equal work or for work of equal value will introduce:
- the obligation of employers, regardless of their size, to have pay structures enabling analysis of whether workers are in comparable situations. In order to implement the Directive, the project defines four mandatory criteria for assessing the value of work (skills, effort, responsibility, and working conditions). Employers may, where appropriate, include additional criteria or sub-criteria. All these criteria and sub-criteria must be applied objectively and in a gender-neutral manner, excluding any direct or indirect discrimination on the grounds of sex (Articles 3-5 of the draft law);
- the obligation of employers to define criteria for determining workers' remuneration, pay levels and pay increases in an objective and gender-neutral manner, excluding any direct or indirect discrimination on the grounds of sex (Article 7(1) of the draft law);
- the obligation of employers to ensure that workers have easy access to the criteria for determining workers' remuneration, pay levels and pay increases (Article 7(2) of the draft law), with the reservation that in the case of employers employing fewer than 50 workers information concerning the criteria for determining pay increases is provided upon the worker's request (Article 7(3) of the draft law);
- the right of a worker to request from the employer information on their own remuneration level, as well as the average remuneration levels, broken down by sex, in relation to categories of workers performing equal work as the worker or work of equal value (Article 8 of the draft law);
- the obligation of employers to provide workers, and to some extent also persons applying for employment, with specified information (including information on the initial remuneration level or its range, the criteria for determining workers' remuneration, pay levels and pay increases, the individual worker's remuneration level, and the average remuneration levels broken down by sex for categories of workers performing equal work or work of equal value) in a manner accessible to persons with disabilities, taking into account their specific needs, enabling them to freely and consciously become acquainted with this information, in particular in a digitally accessible form at least at the level specified in the annex to the Act of 4 April 2019 on the digital accessibility of websites and mobile applications of public entities (Journal of Laws of 2023, item 1440) (Article 10 of the draft law);
- the obligation of employers employing at least 100 workers to prepare a pay gap report containing information concerning their organisation on:
- the gender pay gap,
- the gender pay gap in the form of supplementary or variable components,
- the median gender pay gap,
- the median gender pay gap in the form of supplementary or variable components,
- the percentage of female and male workers receiving supplementary or variable components,
- the percentage of female and male workers in each pay band,
- the gender pay gap among workers broken down by categories of workers, according to the remuneration resulting from the personal classification of the worker determined by the hourly or monthly rate, and supplementary or variable components.
The frequency of submitting reports will depend on the size of the employer. The employer will be obliged to provide the above information to the monitoring authority:
- every three years in the case of employers employing at least 100 workers,
- annually in the case of employers employing at least 250 workers.
If the employer does not provide these information on time, the monitoring authority will summon the employer to provide them without delay. These will be information concerning the previous calendar year.
The submission of the report will take place via an IT tool delivered by the President of Statistics Poland and made available by the monitoring authority in agreement with the President of Statistics Poland.
All information, except for the gender pay gap among workers broken down by categories of workers, will be published by the monitoring authority and may be published by the employer on the employer's website or made publicly available in another way.
The gender pay gap among workers broken down by categories of workers will not be made public. Employers will provide this information to all their workers and workers' representatives (proactively, without waiting for a request), and in the case of the labour inspector or the equality body the information will be provided at their request within 14 days from the date the request is received by the employer (Articles 13-23 of the draft law);
- the right of workers, workers' representatives, the National Labour Inspectorate and the equality body to request from the employer additional explanations and details concerning any information provided in the pay gap report, including explanations regarding any differences in remuneration on the grounds of sex. The employer will be required to provide a justified response to such requests within 14 days from the date the request is received. If the employer's explanations do not justify the pay differences between men and women identified in the pay gap report, the employer will be obliged to address these differences in close cooperation with workers' representatives, the labour inspectorate or the equality body (Articles 23 and 24 of the draft law);
- the obligation of employers employing at least 100 workers to conduct a joint pay assessment if all of the following conditions are met:
- the pay gap report shows a gender pay gap of at least 5% in any category of workers,
- the employer has not justified the gender pay gap on the basis of objective, gender-neutral criteria,
- the employer has not addressed such unjustified gender pay gap within 6 months from the date of submission of the pay gap report.
The employer will be obliged to conduct the joint pay assessment in consultation with the workplace trade union organisation, and if more than one workplace trade union organisation operates at the employer, in consultation with these organisations. If no workplace trade union organisation operates at the employer, the employer will conduct the joint pay assessment in consultation with workers' representatives elected in the manner adopted at the employer.
The purpose of the joint pay assessment will be to identify differences in remuneration between female and male workers that are not justified by objective, gender-neutral criteria, as well as to address these differences and prevent them.
The joint pay assessment will include in particular:
- an analysis of the percentage of female and male workers in each category of workers,
- information on average remuneration levels of female and male workers and supplementary or variable components for each category of workers,
- any differences in the average remuneration levels of female and male workers in each category of workers,
- the reasons for differences in average remuneration, if such differences exist, based on objective, gender-neutral criteria established by employers and the workers' side,
- the percentage of female and male workers who benefited from any pay improvement after returning from the leaves referred to in Article 186⁴ of the Labour Code, if such improvement occurred in a given category of workers during the period of being on leave,
- measures aimed at addressing pay differences if they are not justified by objective, gender-neutral criteria,
- an assessment of the effectiveness of measures included in previous joint pay assessments.
The employer will be obliged to implement the measures resulting from the joint pay assessment in consultation with the workplace trade union organisation, and if no workplace trade union organisation operates at the employer, with workers' representatives elected in the manner adopted at the employer (Articles 25-31 of the draft law);
- regulations concerning legal protection in the event of violation of rights or obligations related to the principle of equal treatment in employment in the field of the right to equal remuneration of men and women for equal work or work of equal value (Articles 38-44 of the draft law);
- sanctions in the form of a fine from PLN 2,000 to PLN 60,000 in the event that the employer or a person acting on their behalf:
- does not assess the value of individual jobs or types of work,
- does not ensure access for the worker to information on the criteria,
- does not provide information to the worker upon request,
- does not prepare the pay gap report,
- does not provide the information specified in the draft law,
- does not conduct the joint pay assessment,
- does not apply corrective measures,
- includes in the employment contract provisions prohibiting workers from disclosing the amount of remuneration received by them.
The amount of these fines will correspond to the fines applicable in labour law provided for in the draft act amending the Act on the National Labour Inspectorate and certain other acts (UD283). The fines will be proportionate but also dissuasive (Article 45 of the draft law).
The draft law on strengthening the application of the right to equal remuneration of men and women for equal work or work of equal value grants competences to the following bodies:
- To the equality body in accordance with the Directive, designated pursuant to Article 20 of Directive 2006/54/EC - implementation of tasks related to enforcement of the right to equal remuneration of men and women for equal work or work of equal value, in cooperation with the National Labour Inspectorate, the monitoring authority and social partners.
The tasks of the equality body will include:
- acting on behalf of the worker, upon the worker's request, to the employer for information on the worker's individual remuneration level and average remuneration levels broken down by sex in relation to categories of workers performing equal work or work of equal value,
- the possibility of requesting from employers the information comprising the pay gap report concerning the gender pay gap among workers broken down by categories of workers, according to remuneration resulting from personal classification determined by the hourly or monthly rate and supplementary or variable components, also for the previous 4 years,
- the possibility of requesting from the employer additional detailed explanations regarding the information provided in the pay gap report,
- cooperation with the employer in the event of the need to address pay differences when earlier the equality body requested the provision of additional detailed explanations regarding the information provided in the pay gap report,
- the possibility of requesting from the employer information from the joint pay assessment,
- participation in the implementation of measures resulting from the joint pay assessment if the employer or the workers' side applies to this body for participation in the implementation of these measures,
- transferring to the monitoring authority data concerning the number and types of complaints related to the principle of equal treatment in employment in the field of the right to equal remuneration of men and women for equal work or work of equal value;
To the monitoring authority.
The tasks of the monitoring authority will include:
- analysing the causes of the gender pay gap and designing tools that help assess inequalities in remuneration, in particular using the analytical work and tools of the European Institute for Gender Equality,
- making available to employers the IT tool serving the performance of the obligation to prepare the pay gap report,
- collecting information from the joint pay assessment,
- collecting and aggregating data concerning the number and types of complaints related to the principle of equal treatment in employment in the field of the right to equal remuneration of men and women for equal work or work of equal value submitted to the National Labour Inspectorate, the equality body and claims pursued before courts,
- raising awareness among private and public entities, social partners and society in order to promote the principle of equal treatment in employment in the field of the right to equal remuneration of men and women for equal work or work of equal value and the right to pay transparency, including by referring to intersectional discrimination,
- submitting to the European Commission, every two years, the data specified in the draft law,
- taking action to ensure that interested persons receive information on the provisions in the field of the right to equal remuneration of men and women for equal work or work of equal value and the right to pay transparency,
- collecting the information specified in the draft law and publishing them;
To the National Labour Inspectorate as the labour inspectorate.
The tasks of the National Labour Inspectorate will include:
- providing training to employers employing fewer than 250 workers and workplace trade union organisations in order to facilitate the performance of tasks arising from the draft law,
- initiating claims, with the consent of the worker or the person applying for employment, in cases concerning claims arising from the violation of rights or obligations related to the principle of equal treatment in employment in the field of the right to equal remuneration of men and women for equal work or work of equal value. It will also be possible to join such proceedings,
- the possibility of requesting from employers the information comprising the pay gap report concerning the gender pay gap among workers broken down by categories of workers, according to remuneration resulting from the personal classification determined by the hourly or monthly rate and supplementary or variable components,
- cooperation with the employer in the event of the need to address pay differences when earlier the National Labour Inspectorate requested the provision of additional detailed explanations regarding the information provided in the pay gap report,
- the possibility of requesting from the employer information from the joint pay assessment,
- participation in the implementation of measures resulting from the joint pay assessment if the employer or the workers' side applies to the National Labour Inspectorate for participation in the implementation of these measures,
- transferring to the monitoring authority data concerning the number and types of complaints related to the principle of equal treatment in employment in the field of the right to equal remuneration of men and women for equal work or work of equal value;
- To the equality body, the National Labour Inspectorate and the courts: the obligation to submit to the monitoring authority all data concerning the number and types of complaints related to the principle of equal treatment in employment in the field of the right to equal remuneration of men and women for equal work or work of equal value by 1 April for the previous calendar year.
The draft law will also amend the following acts:
- the Act of 17 November 1964 - the Code of Civil Procedure (Journal of Laws of 2024, item 1568, as amended);
- the Act of 26 June 1974 - the Labour Code (Journal of Laws of 2025, item 277, as amended);
- the Act of 13 April 2007 on the National Labour Inspectorate (Journal of Laws of 2024, item 1712, as amended).
All measures provided for in the draft law aim to eliminate pay discrimination in the remuneration of men and women for equal work or work of equal value through measures leading to increased pay transparency and enabling victims of such discrimination to exercise their right to equal remuneration.
It was decided that the legal changes resulting from the need to implement the Directive into the Polish legal order will not be introduced solely into the Labour Code, because according to Article 1 of the Labour Code - the Labour Code defines the rights and obligations of workers and employers. Because the Directive imposes obligations and entitlements not only on employers and workers but also on equality bodies, the National Labour Inspectorate and the monitoring authority, it was decided that the implementation of the Directive would be regulated in a separate act. The adopted solution will allow regulating, essentially in one legal act, the rights of workers, the obligations of employers, the tasks of bodies and obligations related to reporting arising from the Directive, which will directly translate into the transparency and clarity of the regulation.
Considering the above, it was decided to regulate this matter in a separate act.
At the same time, it should be noted that the adopted solution already exists under labour law - there are several separate acts affecting employers and workers, including:
- the Act of 9 July 2003 on the employment of temporary workers (Journal of Laws of 2025, item 236);
- the Act of 10 October 2002 on the minimum wage for work (Journal of Laws of 2024, item 1773);
- the Act of 4 March 1991 on the Company Social Benefits Fund (Journal of Laws of 2024, item 288);
- the Act of 10 June 2016 on the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services (Journal of Laws of 2024, item 73);
- the Act of 13 March 2003 on special rules for terminating employment relationships with workers for reasons not related to workers (Journal of Laws of 2025, item 570).
Authority responsible for drafting the project:
Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy (MRPiPS)
Person responsible for drafting the project:
Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk, Minister of Family, Labour and Social Policy
Authority responsible for submitting the project to the Council of Ministers:
MRPiPS
