Germany Misses EU Pay Transparency Deadline as Women Hold Only 12% of Key Board Posts

Germany has failed to meet the June 7 implementation deadline for the European Union’s pay transparency directive, with no corresponding law yet in place for the private sector. The Federal Family Ministry plans to introduce the legislation in early 2027, but reporting obligations would not kick in until June 2028. Under the directive, employers must disclose salary ranges before the first job interview and are banned from asking candidates about their previous pay.

The delay comes as new data underscores how far corporate Germany still has to go on gender equality. A May 2026 study by Russell found that the proportion of women on supervisory boards of DAX 40 companies rose to a record 38.3 percent. Yet in the committees that wield real power, the numbers are starkly different. Women occupy just 12 percent of seats on the influential presidential committees and hold only 12.5 percent of the chairs in nomination committees. Five women currently lead DAX supervisory boards, among them Simone Bagel-Trah at Henkel, Katrin Suder at DHL, and Sabrina Soussan at Continental. Men also stay in office far longer—9.5 years on average, compared with 5.4 years for women.

The gap between policy and practice is equally visible in shop-floor conflicts. At Zeiss Group, management has announced a multi-year cost-cutting program targeting annual savings in the hundreds of millions of euros. The IG Metall union sharply criticized the move, noting that Zeiss had received €222 million in EU semiconductor subsidies just last May. Works councils at sites in Aalen and Göttingen managed to soften the worst of the cuts, but the total number of jobs affected remains undisclosed.

Tensions are also mounting at DHL’s Leipzig hub. The DPVKOM union accuses the company of quietly reducing headcount, pointing to a drop from over 7,000 employees at the start of 2024 to roughly 6,000 by early 2026. DHL attributes the decline to natural turnover and unfilled vacancies.

On June 10, Chancellor Friedrich Merz, employer federation president Rainer Dulger, and DGB chief Yasmin Fahimi met for a reform dialogue at the chancellery. The only point of agreement was the severity of Germany’s economic crisis; positions on cutting red tape, tax policy, and labor market reforms remained far apart.

A separate analysis by the WSI Institute for 2025–2026 highlights the role of collective bargaining in disparities. Only 44 percent of private-sector employees receive holiday pay. In companies with a collective agreement, that figure jumps to 73 percent; in non-union firms it falls to 35 percent. A gender divide persists: 49 percent of men get holiday pay, versus 38 percent of women.

Meanwhile, the works council at software giant SAP marks its 20th anniversary in mid-June. Founded in 2006—SAP was the last DAX company to set up an employee representation body—the council has seen its role shift from organizational basics to navigating artificial intelligence, billion-euro cost-cutting programs, and declining voter turnout. The anniversary comes at a moment when the body must prove its relevance anew.

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