Equal Pay Act is passed to implement the Gender Pay Transparency Directive

29 April 2026 6 min read

At a glance

On 15 April 2026, Slovakia became the first EU Member State to adopt final domestic legislation to fully implement the Gender Pay Transparency Directive (Directive).
The legislation must now be signed by the President before coming into force on 7 June 2026.
While much of the implementing legislation aligns with the Directive there are some notable differences to be aware of, including differing timeframes for compliance with some of the key obligations and a significant extension to equal pay rights.

On 15 April 2026, Slovakia adopted the Equal Pay Act (EqPA) which will fully implement the requirements of the Directive. Although the EqPA is still to be signed by the President, no changes to its provisions are expected. The EqPA will come into force on 7 June 2026.

The EqPA's key provisions are as follows:

Pay structures

Employers are required to implement a pay structure which ensures compliance with the right to equal pay. It must allow an assessment of whether workers perform the same work, or work of equal value which is determined on the basis of objective criteria that are not based on gender and take into account complexity, responsibility, physical demands, working conditions and other factors relevant to the specific job, whilst also taking into account soft skills, in particular social and communication skills. These criteria must be agreed with employee representatives, if any are in place.
This pay structure must be in place by 31 July 2026.
Employers must provide employees with the criteria on which their pay, and pay level is determined, and (for those with 50 or more employees) increased.

Takeaway: These provisions broadly align with the Directive but employers should take note of the relatively short deadline for implementing a compliant pay structure. The provisions also positively require employers to take account of social and communication skills in assessing same work or work of equal value. Slovakia has also taken up the Directive exemption for employers with fewer than 50 employees not to have to provide pay progression criteria.

Equal pay

Male and female employees must be paid equal pay if they do the same work, or work of equal value.
Employees of the same sex are also entitled to equal pay if they perform the same work, or work of equal value.

Takeaway: The legislation is not confined to protecting equal pay for men and women. It also extends equal pay to employees of the same sex, which is a significant extension in employee rights and potentially hugely widens the potential for equal pay claims.

Pre-employment pay transparency

Employers must have non-discriminatory recruitment processes, with gender neutral job titles.
Job applicants are entitled to information about the starting salary or its range for the post for which they are applying (and, if applicable, the relevant provisions of any collective agreement governing pay).
Employers must provide the pay information to job applicants before the job interview or before concluding a contract with the employee. This obligation will be fulfilled if the information is put on the job advertisement.
Employers cannot ask job applicants about their pay history.

Takeaway: These provisions broadly align with the Directive. Note that employers are not mandatorily required to include pay information on the job advertisement itself.

Right to pay information

Employers must, on request (from an employee, employee representatives or the Slovak National Centre for Human Rights), provide information about the level of the relevant employee's pay and, for the first time for the year 2027, the average level of pay, broken down by gender, for the category of employees performing the same work, or work of equal value. This does not apply, however if the information provided would reveal the pay level of another specific employee.
The requested pay information must be provided within two months of the request. Where the information provided is incomplete or inaccurate, employees can request additional and reasonable explanations and details. The employer must provide this information within 30 days.
Employers must provide employees with an annual reminder about their right to request pay information.
Employers can require employees to keep confidential the pay information of the category of workers performing the same work, or work of equal value, other than where an employee is exercising their right to equal pay.
Any contractual provisions requiring an employee to keep their own pay confidential are void.

Takeaway: An employee's right to average pay information for the category of workers doing the same work, or work of equal value does not, in practice, take immediate effect on 7 June 2026; instead, employers must only provide the information for the first time for the year 2027 which effectively delays employees' access to this information. Unlike the Directive which does not set a timeframe for responding to clarification requests, the EqPA requires employers to respond within 30 days.

Pay gap reporting

Employers must report prescribed gender pay gap data to the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family (Ministry). They may also publish it on their website, but this is not a mandatory requirement.
Employers with 250 or more employees must provide their annual report by 15 April of the following calendar year; employers with 100 – 249 employees must provide their report every three years by 15 April of the relevant calendar year.
Employers with fewer than 100 employees may also provide a report, but are not obliged to do so.
The reports should be provided after consultation with any employee representatives who are in place.
Transitional provisions apply which mean that employers must provide their first gender pay gap reports as follows:
- Employers with 150 or more employees must provide the Ministry with the first remuneration report by 7 June 2027 for the period from 1 August 2026 to 31 December 2026.
- Employers with 100 – 149 employee must provide their first remuneration report by 7 June 2031 for the year 2030.

Takeaway: The initial reporting timeframes align with the Directive, but after publication of the first reports, 15 April will become the compliance date which may prove administratively burdensome for employers operating in multiple EU jurisdictions where different timings may apply.

Joint pay assessments

Employers must carry out a joint review of remuneration in cooperation with employee representatives if the gender pay gap report shows an unjustified gap of at least 5% in any category of employees, which is not remedied within six months of submitting the report to the Ministry.
The joint assessment must be carried out within two months of the six month remediation period expiring.
Where there are no existing employee representatives, employees may appoint them for the purpose of the joint assessment and the employer must cooperate appropriately in organising the election of representatives. If no representatives are elected, the employer must carry out the review itself.

Takeaway: Although there is no timeframe set out in the Directive, the EqPA requires employers to carry out any joint pay assessments within two months, which presents a potentially tight timescale.

Analytical tools

The Ministry will publish analytical tools and methodologies to assist employers with their obligations by 30 June 2026.

Takeaway: These tools are likely to be invaluable to employers but if they are not available until 30 June this may hinder employer preparations for compliance.

Data privacy

If the disclosure of pay information could be used to determine the pay of a specific employee, access to the information must be restricted to the employee representatives, the Labour Inspectorate and the Slovak National Centre for Human Rights, who must maintain confidentiality.

Takeaway: These provisions broadly align with the Directive.

Sanctions

A failure to comply with the pay transparency reporting obligations can lead to the imposition of a fine of between EUR4,000 and EUR8,000 and will take into account the seriousness, duration, consequences, circumstances and repetition of the administrative offence.

Takeaway: On the face of it, these fines appear on the low side but the Labour Inspectorate does, in practice, have broader sanctioning powers.

Compensation

Employees impacted by a gender pay gap are entitled to monetary compensation for the harm caused by a violation of the right to equal pay. The monetary compensation must be in an amount sufficient to place the employee in the same financial position as if the violation of the right to equal pay had not occurred, including interest.
The statute of limitations for exercising the right to compensation is three years and commences from the date on which the employee became aware, or could have become aware, of the violation of the right to equal pay.

Takeaway: This is a lengthy limitation period and employers may not therefore be able to crystallise any liabilities for a period of up to three years.