62% of Portuguese companies have not prepared for new salary transparency rules.
What Happened
The study, titled 'Salary Transparency in Portugal: Where Companies Stand and What the Law Will Require,' was released on November 4, 2026. It reveals that 56% of companies have never analyzed pay gaps between men and women, and only 24% have formal and updated salary bands.
Details and Quotes
The study highlights that 34% of companies lack detailed knowledge of the European Directive 2023/970, and 28% are aware of the new rules but have done nothing. Only 21% have an action plan or consider themselves compliant. The directive should have been incorporated into Portuguese law by June 7, 2026, but Portugal missed this deadline. A draft proposal was published on August 5, outlining new obligations for companies.
The directive requires companies to inform candidates about initial pay or salary ranges before hiring, prohibits asking about salary history, and grants workers the right to know average pay levels by gender for equivalent work. The first companies required to report salary information will be those with 150 or more employees, with the first report due by June 7, 2027. Among these larger organizations, 45% have never analyzed the pay gap, and 66% have not set an internal deadline to comply with the new rules.
Executive Digest reports that internal salary communication is the main concern for 48% of organizations, followed by structuring salary bands (34%) and ensuring gender equity (25%). Only 10% see budget as an obstacle.
Sources
- executivedigest.sapo.pt: 62% das empresas portuguesas ainda não se prepararam para as novas regras de transparência salarial
- eco.sapo.pt: Transparência remuneratória: cumprir a lei e preparar a gestão
Prepared with AI from the sources below and our own data, reviewed by the editors before publishing.
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