Strengthening the application of the principle of equal pay for men and women for equal work or work of equal value is the goal of the new law on equal pay for men and women, which the members of the National Council (NR) of the Slovak Republic definitively approved on Wednesday. It adopts the relevant European directive into Slovak law. 123 out of 147 legislators present voted for the law.
- The National Council approved a law strengthening equal pay for women and men.
- The new system requires transparent remuneration based on objective work criteria.
- Employers must state the salary offered and may not inquire about previous remuneration.
- Large employers will be required to report wage differences within the specified time limits.
- In the case of an unjustified difference of more than five percent, the employer is obliged to take corrective measures.
“The aim of the draft law is to introduce a system of remuneration transparency which will enable effective monitoring and assessment of the gender pay gap and ensure that employers put in place pay structures based on objective criteria,” the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family (MPSVR) of the SR explained in the explanatory report.
These criteria must include complexity, responsibility, effort, working conditions and other factors that are relevant to a particular job or position. Soft skills, which are mainly social and communication skills, will also be taken into account, and these criteria must not be directly or indirectly based on gender.
Employers will be obliged to provide persons applying for employment information about the salary or salary range of the job they are applying for. At the same time, it is forbidden to request information about their previous rewards. The law also enshrines the right of employees to information about their own level of remuneration and the average level of remuneration of male and female colleagues performing the same work or work of the same value, divided by gender.
It is established for employers with 250 or more employees the obligation to file by June 7, 2027 and annually thereafter reports on the differences in remuneration related to the previous calendar year. Employers with 150 to 249 employees will be required to file such a report by June 7, 2027, and every three years thereafter. For employers with 100 to 149 employees, this obligation is established until June 7, 2031 and every three years thereafter.
“In cases where the remuneration report shows unjustified differences in remuneration of at least 5% in any category of employees, the employer will be obliged to carry out a joint assessment of remuneration in cooperation with employee representatives. This assessment will include the identification of the causes of the differences and the adoption of measures to correct them,” the Department of Labor explained.
The law also regulates the right to monetary compensation for damage caused by the violation of the right to equal remuneration. The Ministry will monitor and coordinate measures in the application of the right to equal pay, including raising awareness, analyzing the causes of the pay gap between men and women, and publishing aggregated data.
The MPs also approved the amendment proposed by Zdenka Mačicová (Hlas-SD). Among other things, with him increases the fine for failure to fulfill the employer’s obligation to submit a report on the remuneration of men and women to the Ministry. The originally determined range from 500 to 4000 euros is replaced by amounts from 4000 to 8000 euros. These rates are aligned with the fines for illegal employment.
At the same time, the legislators rejected a more extensive amendment proposed by the female members of the opposition PS. Their goal was to eliminate, in their view, the incomplete transposition of the European directive in several places of the law. The new law will be effective from June 7, 2026.
