Daimler Truck ordered to pay 210,000 euros in gender pay gap ruling

The State Labour Court of Baden-Württemberg has ordered Daimler Truck to pay approximately 210,000 euros in gross back pay to a former department manager. The ruling addresses the difference between her salary and the median pay of a male comparison group at the same hierarchical level.

This legal development follows Germany's failure to meet the June 7, 2026, deadline for implementing the EU Pay Transparency Directive. While a revised national law is not expected until early 2027, public employers are already bound by central requirements, and national courts are instructed to interpret existing laws in accordance with the directive. Employers must be able to justify any gender-based pay discrepancies of 5 percent or more using objective, gender-neutral criteria.

Research from the University of Mannheim indicates that many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are unprepared for these requirements. A July 2026 survey found that 26.8 percent of companies had never heard of the directive, and 52.2 percent had not engaged with it. The primary challenge for these businesses lies in the complex data analysis required to categorize roles by competence, responsibility, and working conditions to establish valid comparison groups.