Directive guide
Compliant recruitment: pay ranges, no history questions, neutral language
In short
1. The pay range (Art. 5(1))
The applicant must receive the initial pay for the position or its range, based on objective, gender-neutral criteria — and receive it in time for an informed negotiation: in the vacancy notice or before the interview. “Competitive salary”, “attractive package” and “depending on experience” are exactly the phrases the Directive retires.
- Passes: “€3,200–3,800 gross/month plus a quarterly bonus of up to 10%”.
- Fails: “motivating salary, negotiable at interview”.
The range should be the real range of the position — a token span (€1–9,999) defeats the purpose and will not survive scrutiny by the monitoring authority.
2. No pay-history questions (Art. 5(2))
You may not ask candidates what they earn now or earned before — not in interviews, not in application forms, not through recruiters acting for you. The mechanism being removed: anchoring the offer to past pay imports historical discrimination into every new contract.
The recruiter is your problem too
The prohibition covers your whole hiring chain. If an agency sourcing for you collects current-salary data, that is your Art. 5 exposure — put it in the agency contract.
3. Neutral language (Art. 5(3))
Vacancy notices and job titles must be gender-neutral, and recruitment must be led in a non-discriminatory manner. In practice: neutral titles (“sales representative”, not “salesman”), no requirements that proxy for sex or age (“young and energetic”, “presentable”), and in gendered languages the double form or an (f/m/d) marker.
4. Make it operational
The reliable way to comply is to make the compliant version the easy version: generate the pay-range section from your actual pay data for the role’s category, keep a checklist on every ad, and audit the active ads quarterly. The Egalis recruitment module generates the salary section from your real payroll ranges; the free checker covers the three rules for any ad you paste in.
Frequently asked questions
Does the salary have to be in the job ad itself?
No — the ad or a written communication before the interview both satisfy Art. 5. Publishing it in the ad is operationally simpler (nothing to remember per candidate) and measurably increases application rates.
Can we ask candidates about their salary expectations?
Yes. The ban covers pay HISTORY — what the candidate earns now or earned before. Asking what they expect for this role remains lawful and useful.
What counts as a gender-neutral job title?
A title that does not signal a preferred sex: 'sales representative' rather than 'salesman', 'chairperson' rather than 'chairman'. In gendered languages, the double form or an explicit (f/m/d) marker does the job.
Does this apply to small companies too?
Yes — Art. 5 applies to employers of every size, from day one of the national implementing law. Recruitment is where small employers meet the Directive first.