Implementation of the EU Pay Transparency Directive: The latest development in Romania

Why should I read this?

The EU Pay Transparency Directive (the Directive) is in force and EU Member States have until June 2026 to transpose it into national laws. All employers who employ people in the EU, regardless of their size or sector, will need to comply with the Directive once it is implemented locally. In many cases, compliance with the requirements will be a significant step change for employers, requiring detailed long-term planning and resource.

Romania has published its draft law to transpose the Directive. This briefing highlights the key features of that draft law.

“Romania’s draft law closely tracks both the substance and structure of the Directive, while introducing a number of notable and potentially consequential deviations.”

Oana Paliță, Partner

What is the importance of the latest development?

The Romanian draft law is aimed at transposing the Directive, as well as the two EU “Standards for Equality Bodies” Directives ((EU) 2024/1499 and (EU) 2024/1500).

The draft law includes several notable differences that go beyond the Directive’s requirements and potential gaps that could have practical implications for pay transparency planning for employers operating in Romania.

Alongside introducing a new standalone law, the draft law also makes consequential amendments to several core pieces of existing Romanian employment and equality legislation, including the Labour Code (Law No. 53/2003), Law No. 202/2002 on equal opportunities between women and men, and Government Ordinance No. 137/2000 on the prevention and sanctioning of all forms of discrimination.

At this stage, the draft law is at the public consultation stage, which closes on 8 April 2026.

What you need to know about the Romanian draft law?

The draft law largely follows the structure and substance of the Directive. Most definitions and core obligations are mirrored or closely mirrored, including pre-employment pay transparency, the right to information, pay reporting thresholds and timelines, joint pay assessment triggers, burden of proof rules, and the right to full compensation where a worker sustains damage as a result of an infringement of any right or obligation relating to the principle of equal pay.

However, there are several notable clarifications, differences and potential gaps, summarized below.

• Monitoring body. Oversight and enforcement will be shared between ANES (the National Agency for Equal Opportunities between Women and Men), the National Council for Combating Discrimination (CNCD), and the Labour Inspectorate
• Equal value criteria. The criteria used to determine work of equal value are similar to those set out in the Directive, with the added criterion of “knowledge”. The criteria are therefore knowledge, skills, effort, responsibility and working conditions, and, if appropriate, any other factors which are relevant to the specific job or position
• Requests for information. The draft law mirrors the Directive’s requirements of workers having the right to request and receive, in writing, either personally or through their representatives, information regarding their individual pay levels and average pay levels, broken down by gender, for categories of workers performing the same work or work of equal value. However, it goes beyond the Directive’s requirements by requiring employers to provide the information within 30 working days of the date of the request, instead of the two month requirement in the Directive
• Remediation of unjustified pay gaps. In accordance with the Directive, where gender pay differences are not justified on the basis of objective, gender-neutral criteria, employers must remedy the situation within a “reasonable period of time”. Such timescale for remediation is tightened in the Romanian draft law to 90 working days (extended up to 6 months on an exceptional basis)
• Public procurement. While the Directive makes clear that public procurement may be used to enforce the equal pay principle, the Romanian draft law is silent in this respect
• Limitation periods. The Directive states that limitation periods for bringing equal pay claims must be no less than 3 years from the claimant being aware, or could reasonably be expected to have become aware, of an infringement. This time period is replicated in the Romanian law, save that there is no explicit rule that the time starts only when the claimant becomes aware of the infringement
• Sanctions. In addition to the remedies available to workers, employers face fixed administrative fines for breaching certain elements of the law, including providing pay information to job applicants and asking questions about salary history, failing to provide access to workers of remuneration criteria, failing to provide information regarding individual pay levels and average pay levels requested by workers, and failing to comply with reporting and joint pay assessment obligations. Such fines range from RON 10k–30k (EUR 2k–6k), rising to RON 20k–30k (EUR 4k–6k), for repeat offences

What is likely to happen next?

As noted above, the public consultation period will close on 8 April 2026. After the public consultation phase, the draft law will be finalized and submitted to Parliament as part of the legislative process. Once this is finalized and promulgated by the President of Romania, it will be published in the Official Gazette and come into force. No indication has yet been given of when the draft law will come into force, or whether Romania will miss the 7 June 2026 transposition deadline.

How we can help

Our extensive global footprint and our established equal pay practice means that we are well placed to support global employers in getting ready for pay transparency compliance, wherever they have a presence. Our lawyers are not only experts in the complexities of different laws, but also in the management of projects spanning jurisdictions and driving those projects to maximize the strategic aims and benefits.

With the added benefit of our internal tools that allow us to track and respond to ongoing developments, as well as our Diversidata product, our teams are ideally placed to help companies ensure legal compliance and transform their wider diversity and inclusion strategies.

You can track the latest developments on our Navigating Global Pay interactive site, as well as access to essential FAQs, timelines, a summary of the Directive, a glossary and briefings. Request access to our site here.

Look out for details of our pay transparency events, designed to support companies with their pay transparency readiness.