Italy implements pay transparency rules: Key obligations, deadlines and risks for employers

At a glance

• Legislative Decree No. 96/2026 implements the Gender Pay Transparency Directive (Directive) in Italy, introducing a proactive transparency and enforcement regime from June 2026.
• From 7 June 2026, all employers must comply with recruitment and pay transparency rules, including salary disclosure in job adverts, a ban on salary history requests and access to pay criteria.
• Employers with 100+ employees face additional gender pay gap reporting obligations, with phased timelines and detailed metrics on pay disparities.
• A mandatory joint pay assessment is triggered where a gender pay gap of at least 5% is unjustified and not remedied within six months.
• Non-compliance carries administrative fines and broader litigation and reputational risks, with potential exclusion from public benefits in serious cases.

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Legislative Decree No. 96/2026, published in the Official Gazette on 1 June 2026, implements the Directive in Italy.

The new regime represents a significant shift towards proactive pay transparency and enforcement, with immediate obligations for all employers and additional requirements for companies above certain workforce thresholds.

This alert outlines the key obligations, compliance timelines and sanctions.

Immediate obligations

From 7 June 2026, all employers, regardless of size, must comply with a set of transparency rules affecting recruitment, compensation and internal governance.

Failure to comply may result in administrative fines from EUR250 to EUR1,500.

Transparency in recruitment

Employers are now required to:

• Disclose the starting salary or salary band in job advertisements.
• Ensure vacancy notices are drafted in gender-neutral terms.
• Refrain from requesting candidates’ current or previous salary information.

Pay transparency and internal governance

Employers must:

• Define and ensure accessibility of criteria used to determine pay levels.
• Make pay progression criteria available (mandatory for employers with ≥50 employees).
• Allow employees to request information on average pay levels by gender for comparable roles.
• Provide a reasoned written response within two months.
• Inform employees annually of their information rights.

Gender pay gap reporting

Employers with at least 100 employees are subject to additional reporting obligations relating to gender pay disparities.

Scope of reporting includes:

• Gender pay gap (average and median).
• Pay gap in variable remuneration.
• Distribution of male and female employees across pay quartiles.
• Pay gap by employment category.

Certain detailed data (eg, category-level breakdowns) remain confidential, accessible only to employees, employee representatives and authorities.

Reporting obligations apply as follows:

• ≥ 250 employees: First report by 7 June 2027, annual reporting thereafter.
• 150 – 249 employees: First report by 7 June 2027, reporting every three years.
• 100 – 149 employees: First report by 7 June 2031, Reporting every three years.

Non-compliance may trigger administrative fines (EUR250–EUR1,500) and potential liability for data protection violations in case of improper disclosure of confidential information.

Joint pay assessment mechanism (≥100 employees)

A central feature of the new framework is the obligation to carry out a joint pay assessment with unions / works councils in specific cases.

The obligation arises where:

• A gender pay gap of at least 5% is identified.
• The gap cannot be justified on objective, gender-neutral grounds.
• The gap is not remedied within six months of reporting.

In these situations, employers must:

• Conduct a joint analysis with employee representatives.
• Identify causes and corrective measures.
• Implement remedial actions within a reasonable timeframe.
• Share results with employees and relevant authorities.

Enforcement and legal risk

The decree operates within the existing anti-discrimination framework, allowing:

• Claims by employees, trade unions and equality bodies.
• Application of a reversal of the burden of proof (employer must demonstrate absence of discrimination).

Where violations are established:

• Orders for remedial measures and compensation.
• Potential exclusion from public contracts or financial benefits, in serious or repeated cases, for up to two years.

Any retaliatory action against employees exercising their rights is:

• Invalid and legally unenforceable.
• Subject to damages claims.

Recommended next steps

7 June 2026 is the key starting point for core transparency obligations. Employers should:

• Conduct a pay equity audit and review job classification systems.
• Formalise compensation and progression criteria.
• Update recruitment practices (salary disclosure and salary history ban).
• Prepare internal processes to manage employee requests and future reporting obligations.

The 5% pay gap trigger creates a tangible risk of mandatory corrective action.

While administrative fines are relatively limited, litigation, reputational and operational risks are significant.