The draft regulation of 24 April 2026, issued in connection with the Act on strengthening the application of the right to equal pay for women and men, represents an important step towards increasing genuine pay transparency. Its significance does not lie in introducing a new principle of equality — as this has existed in the Polish legal system for years — but in creating mechanisms that are intended to make that principle effectively enforceable.
Until now, the problem of the gender pay gap has largely remained invisible or difficult to capture in practice. Employers were not required to present detailed data, and the lack of uniform methods for calculating indicators meant that even the analyses available were not fully comparable. The proposed provisions change this situation by introducing an obligation to prepare detailed reports on differences in pay between women and men.
Under the proposed regulations, the report is to cover a broad range of data on the pay gap, both on an annual and hourly basis, and also take into account differences in supplementary and variable components of remuneration. Importantly, reporting will not be limited solely to average pay values. The draft also provides for the obligation to include the median, which better reflects the actual level of pay received by the majority of employees and eliminates distortions caused by exceptionally high individual salaries.
The new provisions also introduce uniform formulas for calculating pay gap indicators. These indicators will be expressed as the percentage difference between the remuneration of women and men, measured against the level of men’s pay. Standardising the methodology is of fundamental importance, as it eliminates the possibility of freely interpreting data and ensures comparability between entities.
An important element of the proposed regulation is the extension of the analysis to all components of remuneration, including bonuses and other variable benefits. In practice, it is often within these elements that the greatest disparities emerge — disparities that are not visible when analysing base salary alone. Introducing the obligation to report such data may therefore lead to the disclosure of differences that have so far remained outside any effective control.
Another new requirement is the obligation to present the pay structure broken down by pay brackets. Employers will be required to indicate what percentage of women and men fall within particular pay levels. This approach makes it possible not only to assess differences in pay levels, but also to identify potential structural barriers, such as the concentration of women in lower pay brackets.
The draft also provides for the obligation to analyse the pay gap by employee category, which means comparing remuneration within similar positions or job classification groups. This solution is particularly important from the perspective of the practical application of the law, as it eliminates arguments based on the general diversity of positions and enables a more precise assessment of whether the principle of equal pay is actually being observed.
The introduction of such a broad reporting obligation will have significant consequences for employers. First, it will force them to organise their remuneration systems and the methods used to document them. Second, it will increase the risk of exposing unjustified pay differences, which may lead not only to court disputes but also to reputational consequences. On the other hand, for employees, the new regulations mean a significant strengthening of their position, particularly by increasing access to information and making it easier to pursue claims.
The proposed provisions are part of a broader regulatory trend based on the assumption that formal equality alone is not sufficient unless it is accompanied by transparency. In this sense, the regulation under discussion does not so much introduce new substantive obligations as create tools that make it possible to enforce existing ones. The draft increases the upper limit of the fine to PLN 60,000 and expands the catalogue of offences.
As a result, the greatest change brought about by the proposed regulations is the shift from an abstract principle of equal pay to a system in which its implementation will be subject to regular, measurable and comparable assessment.
Source: CEO.com.pl
