Italy: Pay equity and transparency requirements and EU Directive transposition activity

Italy has taken multiple legislative steps to improve pay equity nationwide. Reflecting the success of these efforts, Italy's current gender pay gap stands at a notably low 2.2%. In 2006, the government legislated that companies adopt standardized criteria, applicable to both men and women, to determine pay. Italy has also developed a national strategy for gender equality that focuses on the years 2021-2026. And in January of 2026, it announced preliminary legislative decree that will fully transpose the EU Pay Transparency Directive. This article discusses the current reporting requirements and the new draft legislation.

Pay equity and reporting requirements in Italy

One key piece of legislation is Italy’s equal pay law,Law 162/2021, signed on December 3, 2021. This introduced reporting requirements for many employers, as described below.

Who must report?

Reports are mandatory for employers with more than 50 employees and optional for smaller employers.

How often are reports due?

Reports are due every two years on April 30th.

What do these reports need to include?

Reports must include the following:

• Number of employees hired/employed each year, broken down by gender.
• Gender distribution of employees within professional categories and job titles.
• Gender distribution of full-time and part-time employees.
• Data on gender-based differences in pay (base salary and total compensation) and benefits.
• Information about recruitment and candidate selection processes.
• Information about criteria used to determine promotions, professional development, and managerial training.
• Information on measures implemented to promote work-life balance.
• Information on the employer’s diversity and inclusion efforts/policies.

How are reports submitted?

Submissions are digital only, and employers must use the portal set up by the Ministry of Labor and Social Policies.

Gender Equal Certification

One noteworthy aspect of Italy’s commitment to pay equity is the gender equality certificate program. This is open to private companies that meet certain pay equality criteria, as we describe below. Certificate holders receive a tax exemption of 1%, with a maximum of €50,000. They also receive an award score that boosts their eligibility in public bidding for contracts and in applications for EU-level, national, and regional funding.

Applicants are evaluated on their performance in the following areas, which are weighted: 

• Culture and strategy – 15%
• Governance – 15%
• HR processes – 10%
• Opportunities for growth and inclusion of women in the company – 20%
• Gender pay equity – 20%
• Protection of parenthood and work-life balance – 20%

Within each area, applicants are measured on a series of key performance indicators (KPIs). Certified organizations have their KPIs monitored annually and verified every two years.

EU Pay Transparency Directive transposition

In 2024, Italy took initial action to transpose the EU Directive by adopting Law no. 15/2024. This law basically granted the government power to implement the Directive and set a 2026 deadline for transposition. 

The nation appears well on track to meet this deadline. On January 31, 2026, draft legislation was approved by the Council of Ministers.

As we’ve seen with many nations, Italy’s draft legislation sticks fairly close to the Directive’s requirements. There are two points where it goes above and beyond.

First, Italy’s new reporting requirements apply to more employers than the Directive mandates: the reporting threshold is 50 employees, rather than the Directive’s starting point of 100. However, this is aligned with the existing reporting requirements outlined above, which go back to 2021. 

Second, while some nations are allowing employers to provide applicants with pay information anytime prior to the job interview, Italy’s draft legislation specifies that this information must be provided in the job posting.

This draft legislation also: 

• Clarifies the concepts of “equal work” and “work of equal value”.
• Links those concepts to the job classification systems already used in collective bargaining agreements in Italy.
• Prevents employers from asking about employees’ pay history.
• Bans contract clauses that prohibit employees from disclosing their pay.
• Establishes employees’ right to information about their pay, with a maximum employer response time of two months.
• Requires a joint pay assessment, to be performed with employee representatives, if an employer reports an unjustified pay gap of 5% or more.

Further support with PayAnalytics by beqom

Pay equity data reporting is already mandatory for many employers in Italy, and the requirements will continue to get more specific as the EU Directive is implemented. PayAnalytics by beqom was designed to make it easy to report your data, with built-in reports that we will update as the EU Directive takes effect. Equally as important, our data dashboards and visualizations help decision-makers understand the data and what it means for the organization’s pay structure, workforce composition, and recruitment and retention strategies. 

Once the Directive takes effect, employers throughout the EU will need to commit to narrowing any unexplained gender pay gaps to under 5%. PayAnalytics by beqom is an optimal tool for this process. With just a few clicks, you can identify your organization’s pay gaps and get tailored raise suggestions to close the gap based on your target metrics and budget.