Employees and employment law · Slovakia
Pay transparency
Act No. 76/2026 Z. z. on Equal Pay for Men and Women introduced duties for every employer: a pay structure based on objective criteria, information about starting pay before interview, a ban on asking about previous salary, and pay reports for larger businesses, with fines for non-compliance. We put everything in place: from criteria and documents to the first report.
- Obligations according to business size
- Criteria, documents and reporting
- Fees agreed in advance
What we'll do for you
The scope depends on business size. A small business needs recruitment and criteria adjustments; a large one also needs an entire reporting process. After the audit, you receive a precise list of applicable duties and the fee for implementing them.
Select an item to see the details.
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Audit of the current position
We review how you currently set and increase pay, how recruitment works and which statutory duties apply according to headcount — including deadlines already running.
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Employee categories and criteria
We help group roles into categories of equal work or work of equal value and establish objective pay criteria — complexity, responsibility, effort and conditions — as required by law.
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Recruitment and adverts
We revise adverts and interview processes — starting pay or pay range information, neutral job titles and removal of questions about previous salary, which the law expressly prohibits.
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Employees' right to information
We prepare a process for employee requests for pay level information, including deadlines and annual notifications — and flag salary confidentiality clauses that are now invalid.
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Pay reports
For businesses with 100 or more employees, we establish data collection and calculations for pay reports, consultation with employee representatives and a process for identified differences.
Deliverablean implemented pay structure, revised adverts and internal processes, and a prepared pay reporting system
How it works
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- Auditday 0
We identify your applicable duties and deadlines and where the current position conflicts with the law.
- Criteria and documents
We propose a pay structure and revise internal policies, adverts and recruitment material.
- Implementation
Consultation with employee representatives, HR training and launching information request processes.
- Reportingaccording to business size
Preparing the first pay report and supporting its submission to the Ministry of Labour.
The EU Pay Transparency Directive has become law in Slovakia — Act No. 76/2026 Z. z. on Equal Pay for Men and Women is in force, and its first deadlines have passed. This is not an HR formality: it changes recruitment, pay policies and handling of pay data, and shifts the burden of proof against the employer in disputes.
We help implement the obligations so they make operational sense — not as another folder, but as a system that stands up before the labour inspectorate, employee representatives and the courts.
No-obligation enquiry
Ready to start?
Send us an enquiry. We usually reply within 24 hours with a price confirmation and next steps. The first 30-minute consultation is free and commits you to nothing.
- 1Send your enquiry via this form
- 2Usually within 24 h you get a price confirmation and plan
- 3We start work only after your approval
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What clients ask
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Who does the new law actually apply to?
The core duties — a pay structure based on objective criteria, starting pay information before interview and a ban on asking about previous salary — apply to every employer regardless of size. Further duties increase with headcount: pay progression criteria from 50 employees, pay reporting from 100 employees.
Which deadlines are already running?
Employers existing before 7 June 2026 were required to introduce a pay structure by 31 July 2026 — that deadline has passed. Businesses with 150 or more employees submit their first pay report by 7 June 2027 for the period from 1 August to 31 December 2026 — so data for that period must already be collected. Businesses with 100 to 149 employees have their first report due by 7 June 2031.
What happens if we do not submit a report?
The Ministry of Labour first sets an additional deadline; if no report arrives even then, it imposes a fine of 4 000 to 8 000 €. Litigation is a greater risk than the fine: where statutory duties are breached, the burden of proof in an equal pay dispute shifts to the employer, and the employee is entitled to compensation including lost pay with interest.
Must I state salary directly in the advert?
A published Slovak job offer must state the basic salary component (Section 62(2) of Act No. 5/2004 Z. z.). In addition, Act No. 76/2026 Z. z. requires information about the starting pay or its range sufficiently in advance of the interview or conclusion of the contract to enable the applicant to negotiate pay on an informed basis. The prohibition on asking about previous salary applies separately.
Can employees now ask about colleagues' salaries?
Not an individual colleague's salary. An employee has a right to information on average pay levels for men and women in the employee category doing equal work — not a specific person's pay. Employees also cannot be prohibited from discussing their own pay; confidentiality clauses concerning their own remuneration are invalid.
We have pay differences. What do we actually risk?
A difference is not unlawful in itself — but it must rest on objective criteria unrelated to sex. If a report shows an unjustified gap of at least 5 % in a category and you do not remedy it within six months, a joint pay assessment with employee representatives becomes mandatory. An audit identifies such gaps while they remain internal information.
Legal Q&A
Common questions on this topic
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An employee is requesting information about their own pay and the average pay of colleagues. What must we provide, and by when?
On an employee’s request you must provide them in writing, within two months, with information on the level of their own pay and on the average pay levels of men and women in the category of employees performing the same work or work of equal value. You provide the average levels for the first time for 2027, and you do not provide them where the pay of a particular colleague could be derived from them. For a supplementary request for an explanation you have 30 days.
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How should we group employees into categories, and what is work of equal value?
A category comprises employees performing the same work or work of equal value, grouped by the employer according to the criteria of its pay structure. The value of work is assessed against objective criteria independent of sex, in particular complexity, responsibility, effort, working conditions and soft skills, not by job title or department. Where employee representatives operate at your workplace, you agree the criteria with them and consult them on the categories.
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Do bonuses, benefits and a company car count towards equal pay?
Bonuses and benefits, yes. The Equal Pay Act treats as pay not only basic wages but also other monetary and in-kind benefits the employer provides to the employee, which it calls supplementary pay components. In our view a company car also used privately falls within that definition, although there is no practice on the point yet. The pay report tracks these components separately and they also feed into the pay level an employee may request. Remuneration under agreements on work performed outside an employment relationship also counts as pay.
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Further reading
Equal pay disputes under the new rules: what an employer must be able to prove
Act No. 76/2026 Coll. has tightened the rules on equal pay disputes between men and women. An employer that has breached the new information and reporting duties must generally prove in the dispute that it did not discriminate, even where the employee produces no indications. The article is written for employers and HR staff who want to know what claims they face and how to prepare for a dispute.
Read more →
Equal Pay Act: what employers needed by 31 July 2026 and what comes next
Businesses had until 31 July 2026 to introduce pay structures based on objective criteria. The deadline has passed but the duty continues, and most other rules apply regardless of company size.
Read more →
A former employee has joined a competitor and taken clients with him: what the employer can claim
When a key employee leaves for a competitor and clients or company data follow, the employer has a non-compete clause, protection of trade secrets, unfair competition and damages at its disposal. Each instrument has different conditions and calls for different evidence. This article shows how to assess the situation and in what order to proceed.
Read more →