articles - Labour and employment law

The principle of non-discrimination has been in force in Polish labour law for over 20 years. At the same time, there is a noticeable tendency to specify and expand provisions in this area. Soon, on 24 December 2025, the principle of non-discrimination will be reinforced once again – by adding art. 18^3ca to the Labour Code. The adoption of art. 18^3ca LC relates to partial implementation of European Parliament and Council (EU) Directive 2023/970[1].

This provision introduces rules on transparency regarding remuneration at the recruitment stage. However, it also stipulates that: The employer shall ensure that job advertisements and job titles are gender-neutral and that the recruitment process is non-discriminatory. We focus in this article on new duties of employers in this regard.

[1] Directive (EU) 2023/970 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 May 2023 to strengthen the application of the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value between men and women through pay transparency and enforcement mechanisms.

The aim of Directive 2023/970 (i.e. Directive (EU) 2023/970 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 May 2023 on enhancing the application of the principle of equal pay for men and women for equal work or work of equal value through pay transparency and enforcement mechanisms) is to reduce and, in the long term, eliminate the gender pay gap in the EU, which was still 12.7% in 2022.

In the current Polish labour market, disclosure of salaries by employers is standard only in certain industries, particularly in the IT sector. Many employers do not disclose salary information to protect company secrets. Hence, it appears, that the norm is not to disclose salary ranges in recruitment advertisements, use of salary secrecy provisions and for employers to increasingly rarely set pay grades, which translates into less disclosure of salaries in organisations.

Directive (EU) 2023/970 of the European Parliament and of the Council to strengthen the application of the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value between men and women through pay transparency and enforcement mechanisms was adopted on 10 May 2023. What new obligations will employers face? How does EU law understand equal pay?