Slovakia's Equal Pay Act (Law No. 76/2026) — First EU Transposition of the Pay Transparency Directive

Directive (EU) 2023/970 requires all EU and EEA member states to transpose binding gender pay-transparency rules into national law by 7 June 2026. Slovakia was the first member state to complete this process: its Equal Pay Act (Zákon o rovnakej odmene, Law No. 76/2026 Z. z.) was approved by the National Council on 15 April 2026, signed by President Peter Pellegrini on 23 April 2026, published in the Collection of Laws on 8 May 2026, and entered into force on the directive's own deadline, 7 June 2026.
The law applies to all public and private employers. Companies with 100–249 staff must report their gender pay gap by worker category every three years; those with 250 or more must report annually. Where an unexplained pay gap of 5% or more persists in a category for six months without correction, the employer must carry out a joint pay assessment with worker representatives. Employers had until 31 July 2026 to bring pay structures into compliance, and the first statutory reports (covering August–December 2026) are due by 15 April 2027.
Enforcement sits with the Labour Inspectorate and the Slovak National Centre for Human Rights, which also handles pay-information complaints from workers. Breaches carry administrative fines of €4,000–€8,000. Slovakia's own pre-reform gender pay gap stood at 15.7% in 2024 (Eurostat), above the 11.1% EU average — the baseline the law is designed to close.
Because the law only entered into force in June 2026 and the first compliance reports are not due until 2027, there is not yet any independent evaluation of its effect on the pay gap; this entry records a verified legislative design, not a proven outcome.

Read the full analysis: https://www.wtwco.com/en-kw/insights/2026/06/final-legislation-to-transpose-the-eu-pay-transparency-directive-in-slovakia