Consultation launched on Danish bill for implementing the Gender Pay Transparency Directive

At a glance

• On 26 February 2026, a draft bill implementing the Gender Pay Transparency Directive (Directive) was published for consultation.
• On the same day, however, a general election was called. This may delay progress until the election is concluded.
• The consultation closes on 27 March 2026.
• It is expected that the bill will come into force on 1 January 2027, nearly six months after the 7 June 2026 deadline.

On 26 February 2026, a draft bill implementing the Directive was sent out for consultation.

The provisions of the draft bill include, among other things,:

• A requirement for job applicants to receive information from the prospective employer about the initial pay or its range, based on objective, gender-neutral criteria, for the position concerned and, where applicable, the relevant provisions of the collective bargaining agreement applied by the employer in relation to the position.
• A requirement for employers to provide employees with access to the objective and gender-neutral criteria that are used to determine the employees’ pay, pay levels and pay progression.
• An obligation on employers with at least 100 employees to prepare a gender pay gap reporting relating to the previous year. The first pay reports for employers with 150 or more employees will be due by 1 September 2028 (15 months after the deadline set in the Directive).
• A provision that Statistics Denmark will produce employers' gender pay gap reports free of charge using the salary information already reported by the employer to Statistics Denmark. However, it is important to note that employers may need to supplement the report with data on categories of employees who perform the same work or work of equal value as this data is not currently captured. 

After the consultation process, the bill will be finalised and introduced in the Danish Parliament. If the Danish Parliament adopts the bill, the provisions will be implemented through amendments to the Danish Equal Pay Act. The final legislation is expected to enter into force on 1 January 2027.