Portugal and Spain miss EU deadline to adopt salary‑transparency rules

Portugal has failed to transpose the EU's salary‑transparency directive by the June 7 deadline, leaving the country without the legal mechanisms meant to ensure equal pay for equal work and to expose hidden gender wage gaps. The delay, which began three years after the directive’s adoption, continues to affect workers, employers and taxpayers, and raises the risk of EU infringement procedures and possible fines.

Spain is the only remaining EU member that has not yet transposed the same directive. The draft royal decree is still being written, with a public consultation completed in May but the text pending further hearings before it can be presented to the Council of Ministers. The law would require companies to publish salary ranges in job ads, forbid employers from asking candidates about past earnings, and obligate firms with 100 or more employees to report gender pay differences, aiming to close the gender pay gap.

Both countries’ inaction delays the rollout of measures intended to increase pay transparency, reduce discrimination, and give workers clearer information about remuneration.