Without National Laws in Place, Austrian and German Employers Brace for Pay-Transparency Litigation

With the European Union’s June 7 deadline for enacting pay-transparency rules just days away, Austria and Germany remain among the last holdouts not to have transposed the directive into domestic law. Only Italy and Slovakia have fully implemented the requirements so far, while Sweden and Denmark have raised objections over bureaucracy and potential interference with collective-bargaining autonomy.

Legal experts warn that the absence of national legislation leaves companies exposed. Employees may cite the EU directive directly in court, increasing the risk of discrimination lawsuits. Under the new rules, businesses with 100 or more workers must disclose their salary structures, and every employee gains the right to request information about pay for comparable roles. For the public sector, key provisions take effect starting June 8.

As employers brace for tighter pay-transparency rules, another compliance front often goes unnoticed: health and safety law. A free toolkit helps UK businesses check their obligations under the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974, offering ready-to-use risk assessments and checklists that can reduce liability and protect staff. Download the free Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 Toolkit

Pay Gap Remains Stubbornly Wide

Austria’s failure to meet the deadline comes against a bleak backdrop. The latest PwC Women in Work Index 2026 places the country 27th out of 33 OECD nations. The gender pay gap stands at 17.6 percent — significantly worse than the OECD average of 12.4 percent. Meanwhile, the share of women working full-time has fallen from 65.8 to 64.5 percent, while 90.2 percent of men hold full-time positions.

The statistics point to deep structural inequities that the transparency directive is meant to address. But with transposition lagging, critics argue that Austria risks falling further behind its EU peers.

Positive Signals Elsewhere

Not all news is grim. At the EPBN WISE Conference in Prague, several Austrian organizations — including IKEA, ÖBB, and Erste Bank — received awards for their workplace inclusion efforts. The recognition coincides with a European study finding that 63 percent of LGBTIQ employees experience microaggressions on the job.

Germany has taken its own steps. On May 6, the federal cabinet approved reforms to the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG), extending the deadline for filing discrimination claims from two to four months and broadening protections against sexual harassment. Such reforms are often seen as a template for the broader German-speaking region.

The urgency of anti-discrimination measures is underscored by data from Germany’s Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency, which logged over 13,000 advisory inquiries in 2025 — the highest figure ever recorded. Roughly 27 percent of those cases were directly tied to working life.

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