EU Pay Transparency: Where Do We Actually Start?

Published June 2026 - originally on LinkedIn.

A lot of companies know they should be ready for the EU Pay Transparency Directive. The question I hear most is not "what do we need to do?" - it's "where do we actually start?"

Here's what a practical readiness review typically looks like:

Step 1: Collect and map what exists Gather everything: comp philosophy (if there is one), salary bands, leveling docs, pay policies, tool setup, country footprint, headcount by entity type. Most companies have more than they think - it's just scattered across spreadsheets, docs, tools, and people's heads.

Step 2: Pressure-test the setup This is where it gets real. Do your bands hold across countries? Are your pay criteria documented and gender-neutral? Can you define "same work or work of equal value" for your roles? Is there an actual process for pay decisions, or does it live in a manager's judgment? Where is the setup operational, and where is it just a document nobody uses?

Step 3: Turn gaps into a roadmap Sort everything into three buckets: what can stay as-is, what needs tightening, and what actually needs rebuilding. Clarify what belongs in a tool vs. what's a manual process or policy decision. Then prioritize: now, next, later. Assign ownership. Make it something your team can actually work from.

The output is a setup tracker, not a slide deck.

A clear picture of where you stand, what's missing, and what to do first - structured so your team knows who does what and when.

Most of the time, the answer is not "start from scratch." It's "tighten what exists, fill a few specific gaps, and build the process around it."

If this is where your team is, this is the kind of review I help with. DM me.