Pay secrecy in Germany is on its way out. Employees already have a statutory right to information about comparator pay under the Entgelttransparenzgesetz — and the EU Pay Transparency Directive (EU) 2023/970, due for transposition by 7 June 2026, upgrades that right dramatically: pay ranges before the interview, a ban on salary-history questions, information rights at every employer regardless of size, and a burden-of-proof shift in equal-pay claims. For expats — who often negotiate without local salary knowledge and are overrepresented among the underpaid — the practical question is what you can demand under the law in force, and what the directive adds as a floor.
The starting point: equal pay is already the law
The principle is not new. Equal pay for equal work and work of equal value, without discrimination on grounds of sex, follows from Art. 157 TFEU, the AGG, and §§ 3 and 7 EntgTranspG. The BAG has sharpened this line: where a woman earns less than a male colleague doing the same work, that difference indicates discrimination, and the employer cannot rebut it simply by saying the man „negotiated better” (BAG, 16 February 2023 — 8 AZR 450/21). The problem was never the principle — it was information: you cannot claim a gap you cannot see.
What you can demand under the EntgTranspG
The individual right to information (Auskunftsanspruch, §§ 10 ff. EntgTranspG) works like this:
- Threshold: the right exists in establishments with more than 200 employees at the same employer.
- What you ask for: the criteria and procedure for determining your own pay, and the median gross monthly pay of the comparison group — colleagues of the other sex performing the same work or work of equal value — plus up to two individual pay components (e.g. bonus, car allowance).
- How: in text form, usually via the works council where one exists. The comparison group must contain at least six employees of the other sex, otherwise the answer is refused for confidentiality.
- Response time: three months. If the employer fails to answer, it carries the burden in a later dispute of proving there is no pay discrimination — a refusal is therefore strategically valuable for you.
In practice the EntgTranspG has been weaker than its design: many employees don’t qualify, the median hides the spread, and the Act contains no direct sanction. But the answer — or the refusal — is powerful raw material for a claim under Art. 157 TFEU and the AGG: pay adjustment going forward, back pay, and compensation. Deadlines are treacherous here: AGG compensation claims must be asserted in writing within two months (§ 15(4) AGG), while back-pay differences are ordinary wage claims that can fall under contractual forfeiture clauses — see Ausschlussfrist and the overview of AGG discrimination claims.
The EU Pay Transparency Directive: the new floor
Directive (EU) 2023/970 must be transposed into German law by 7 June 2026. Its key rights, which national law must guarantee at minimum:
Before you’re hired
- Pay range up front: applicants must receive the starting pay or its range — in the job advertisement or at least before the interview — based on objective, gender-neutral criteria.
- Salary-history ban: employers may not ask what you earned in previous jobs. For expats benchmarking against home-country salaries, this ends a classic anchoring trap.
During employment
- Information right for everyone: all employees — at employers of any size — can request their own pay level and the average pay levels, broken down by sex, for categories of workers doing the same work or work of equal value. Employers must remind staff of this right annually.
- No pay-secrecy clauses: contractual bans on disclosing your own pay for equal-pay purposes are prohibited.
- Transparent criteria: pay-setting and progression criteria must be objective, gender-neutral and accessible.
Structural obligations
- Gender pay-gap reporting for employers with 100+ employees, phased in by size (largest employers first).
- Joint pay assessment: where reporting reveals a gap of at least 5% in any category that the employer cannot justify and does not remedy within six months, a formal joint pay assessment with employee representatives becomes mandatory.
Enforcement
- Burden-of-proof shift: once an employee presents facts indicating discrimination — or where the employer breached its transparency obligations — the employer must prove there was none.
- Full compensation: back pay including bonuses and payments in kind, compensation for lost opportunities and immaterial harm, with no upper cap.
Where German transposition stands
Germany must adapt the EntgTranspG to implement the directive; the implementing legislation is still in the political process, and details — thresholds, procedures, sanctions — will only be final when it is enacted. Until then, treat the directive as the floor: German law already delivers the Auskunftsanspruch and the Art. 157/AGG claim structure, and courts interpret national law in the light of EU law. Do not wait for the transposition date to document a pay gap you can see today.
What expats should do now
- Document. Keep your contract, bonus letters, grading/band information, job descriptions and appraisal records. Equal-pay cases are won on the comparability of work — collect what shows your tasks and responsibility level.
- Talk. Discussing your own salary with colleagues is lawful; blanket pay-secrecy clauses are unenforceable, and the directive prohibits them outright. Comparator knowledge is the most valuable asset in these cases.
- Ask formally. If your employer has 200+ employees, file the EntgTranspG request in text form. Either the answer reveals a gap, or the refusal shifts the burden of proof.
- Mind every deadline. Two months (§ 15(4) AGG) for compensation; contractual forfeiture clauses for the wage difference; three years’ limitation as the outer boundary.
- Check variable pay too. Equal pay covers all components — bonus, commission, stock, allowances. Discretionary bonuses distributed unevenly by sex are a common gap driver; see discretionary bonuses.
Worked example
A female senior consultant at a 1,200-employee Frankfurt firm earns €78,000. She files an EntgTranspG request via the works council. The answer: median pay of the male comparison group in the same role and band is €92,000 — a gap of €14,000 per year, roughly 15%.
- Forward-looking claim: adjustment of her salary to the non-discriminatory level.
- Back pay: the monthly difference of about €1,167 gross for the past. Her contract has no forfeiture clause, so the three-year limitation governs — a claim of up to roughly €42,000.
- AGG compensation: asserted in writing within two months of the Auskunft.
The employer argues market conditions and individual negotiation at hiring. Under the BAG’s line, „he negotiated better” does not rebut the indication of discrimination; objective factors (experience, performance measured neutrally) explain only part of the gap. The matter settles before the chamber hearing: salary raised to €90,000, a lump sum of €30,000 gross covering back pay, and €4,500 AGG compensation. Without the formal information request — and the deadlines kept — none of this leverage exists.
Frequently asked questions
Can my employer forbid me from discussing my salary with colleagues?
No — blanket pay-secrecy clauses are generally unenforceable because they obstruct equal-pay enforcement, and the directive requires an explicit prohibition. You may share your own salary; confidential pay data you hold because of your job (e.g. in HR) is a different matter.
My employer has 80 employees. Do I have any information right?
The EntgTranspG Auskunftsanspruch does not reach you (200+ threshold). The directive’s information right applies to employers of every size, so this gap is set to close with transposition. Even without a statutory request, nothing stops you from gathering comparator information through colleagues — and an equal-pay claim itself does not require the formal Auskunft.
What counts as „work of equal value”?
Not identical job titles — an overall assessment of the nature of the work: skills, effort, responsibility and working conditions. A female project manager can be comparable to a male „senior account lead” if the substance matches — which is why job descriptions and appraisal documents are worth keeping.
Does this help me as a foreigner, or only in gender cases?
The transparency instruments are built around gender. But the information they produce — ranges, medians, criteria — is usable evidence in other discrimination constellations too, and pay discrimination on grounds of ethnic origin or nationality is prohibited under the AGG. The documentation strategy is identical.
When will I see pay ranges in German job ads?
The directive requires the range in the advertisement or before the interview; the deadline for Germany is 7 June 2026, and some employers are moving early because they recruit EU-wide. Until the German statute is in force, the range is a directive-based expectation, not yet an enforceable right against private employers.
What does an equal-pay case cost me?
In first-instance labor-court proceedings each side bears its own lawyer costs regardless of outcome; legal-expenses insurance frequently covers pay discrimination disputes. Details on fees and funding options: our costs page.