Is your company ready for the new pay transparency legislation?
Pay transparency in Greece is now under new legislation (5316/2026), effective November 1st, 2026.
Why it is important
If you run a small or mid-sized business, you might think this is only for large companies, but it's not. Most things the new law asks for, apply to every employer, regardless of size.
In practice, pay transparency means you can explain why each person earns what they earn. To be able to explain though, you need to have job levels and pay criteria that are written down. This way, you can answer a question about pay in five minutes.
The new law shifts the responsibility to the employers, with potential risks including: the burden of proof in case of a complaint, fines in case of non-compliance, and a hurt employer brand that can lead to resignations and increased difficulty for new hires.
What the law says
The idea behind it is simple: people doing the same work, or work of equal value, should be paid equally regardless of gender; and employers should be able to prove it.
To decide what counts as work of equal value, the law looks at four criteria: skills, effort, responsibility, and working conditions.
What changes for you
The law follows the life of an employee, from before joining, to on-the-job, day-to-day work life.
Before you hire
Pay range up front: Candidates have the right to know the starting pay or range before the first interview, preferably written.
No salary history: You cannot ask what someone earned before, and neither can anyone acting on your behalf.
Neutral ads and titles: Job titles and descriptions should be gender-neutral without excluding anyone.
Current employees
A written rewards policy: Compensation and benefits need specific, gender-neutral criteria, and they need to be clear to your employees.
The right to ask: Employees can ask for their own pay level and the average pay by gender for people doing the same work or work of equal value. You must answer in writing, within two months.
A yearly reminder: Every year, you tell everyone about their right to information.
No more gagging clauses: A contract cannot stop someone from sharing information about their pay when the purpose is pay equality.
If someone raises a claim
The burden of proof: If you have not met your transparency obligations and someone claims discrimination, you are the one who must prove there was none.
Reporting obligations
Reporting depends on your organization's size.
Company size | First report | How often |
250+ employees | June 7, 2027 | Every year |
150 to 249 employees | June 7, 2027 | Every three years |
100 to 149 employees | June 7, 2031 | Every three years |
Under 100 employees | Optional | Every three years |
*Headcount is calculated on the average of the previous year.
What the report contains
The report covers seven areas:
Overall gender pay gap.
Gap in complementary or variable pay, such as bonuses.
Overall median gender pay gap.
Median gap in complementary or variable pay.
Share of women and men who receive complementary or variable pay.
Share of women and men in each pay quartile.
Gap by category of employees, for base pay and for variable pay.
The 5% rule
If the average pay gap between genders in any category of employees is 5% or more, you cannot justify it with objective, gender-neutral criteria, and you do not fix it within six months, then a joint pay assessment follows.
Where to start
Start by mapping your current pay data against your job descriptions to check if there is a gap internally.
Then, adjust your job ads and interviews, structure your roles, and plan how you'll explain the changes to your team.
Want to know where your company stands?
Visit our pay transparency page and fill in the Compliance Readiness form. Once you do this, we'll arrange a call to talk about the result and the proposed next steps with our team.
If you want to learn more, you can hear our podcast in HResearch, with Panagiotis Gkorezis, in Spotify or YouTube.
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