Article 9 turns pay data into a defined reporting framework. It specifies seven categories of information—not a generic set of national-style mean and median bonus metrics—and phases reporting according to workforce size.
Reporting is a transparency mechanism. A reported difference is not, by itself, proof of discrimination. Category-level results also connect to the complete Article 10 trigger for a joint pay assessment.
The seven required data categories
Directive requirements
Employers within the Article 9 schedule must report:
- The gender pay gap. [Directive, Article 9(1)(a)]
- The gender pay gap in complementary or variable components. [Directive, Article 9(1)(b)]
- The median gender pay gap. [Directive, Article 9(1)(c)]
- The median gender pay gap in complementary or variable components. [Directive, Article 9(1)(d)]
- The proportion of female and male workers receiving complementary or variable components. [Directive, Article 9(1)(e)]
- The proportion of female and male workers in each quartile pay band. [Directive, Article 9(1)(f)]
- The gender pay gap between workers by categories of workers, broken down by ordinary basic salary or wage and complementary or variable components. [Directive, Article 9(1)(g)]
Exact workforce schedules
Directive requirements
- Employers with 250 or more workers report every year, with the first report due by 7 June 2027, covering the previous calendar year. [Directive, Article 9(2)]
- Employers with 150 to 249 workers report every three years, with the first report due by 7 June 2027, covering the previous calendar year. [Directive, Article 9(3)]
- Employers with 100 to 149 workers report every three years, with the first report due by 7 June 2031, covering the previous calendar year. [Directive, Article 9(4)]
- Member States may require employers with fewer than 100 workers to provide pay information. This option applies to employers below the Directive’s stated schedules for employers with 100 or more workers. [Directive, Article 9(5)]
Accuracy, consultation and access
The employer’s management must confirm the accuracy of the information after consulting worker representatives; those representatives must have access to the methodologies applied. [Directive, Article 9(6)]
Employers must communicate all Article 9(1)(a)–(g) information to the authority responsible for compiling and publishing that data under Article 29(3)(c). Employers may themselves publish the Article 9(1)(a)–(f) information on their website or otherwise make it publicly available. [Directive, Article 9(7)] Member States may compile the Article 9(1)(a)–(f) information from administrative data, and that information is made public under Article 29(3)(c). [Directive, Article 9(8)]
Employers must provide the Article 9(1)(g) category-level information to workers and worker representatives and, on request, to the labour inspectorate and equality body. Workers, representatives, labour inspectorates and equality bodies may ask for clarification and details, including explanations of gender pay differences. Employers must respond within a reasonable time. Where differences are not justified by objective, gender-neutral criteria, employers must remedy the situation within a reasonable time in close cooperation with worker representatives, the labour inspectorate and/or the equality body. [Directive, Article 9(9)–(10)]
Where Article 9(1)(g) information is available for the preceding four years, the employer must also provide it on request. [Directive, Article 9(9)]
Link to Article 10
A category-level difference does not trigger a joint pay assessment on its own. All three Article 10(1) conditions must be met: the report shows an average-pay difference of at least 5% in a category; the employer has not justified it using objective, gender-neutral criteria; and the unjustified difference has not been remedied within six months of report submission. [Directive, Article 10(1)(a)–(c)]
Operational recommendations — not express Article 9 requirements
- Confirm workforce scope and reporting cadence against Article 9.
- Create a data dictionary aligned exactly to Article 9(1)(a)–(g).
- Map ordinary basic salary/wage separately from complementary or variable components.
- Document calculation rules, source systems, reporting period and quality checks.
- Involve worker representatives early enough for meaningful consultation and methodology access.
- Prepare explanations and a remediation workflow for category-level differences.
- Preserve calculation files, approvals and published/submitted outputs.
Article 9 does not itself prescribe FTE normalisation or a complete calculation methodology. Employers can document any additional methodology against an appropriate source.
Directive framework