What if you could know the salary of your colleagues? Should there be complete transparency in business?

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– It will soon be possible to have an idea of ​​what your colleagues earn.

From 2026, you will be able to find out more about the salary of your colleagues: in France, as in all companies in the European Union, employers will be required to inform employees who wish to do so. average pay levels by gender for employees performing the same work. The starting salary and possible salary range for the positions to be filled must also be available to job seekers. This European Union directive aims to fight against wage inequalities and close the gender pay gap. In the event of an unjustified deviation more than 5% on salariesthe company will have to take action, otherwise it will face fines.

“The lack of pay transparency is one of the main obstacles to eliminating the gender pay gap”indicates the European Council, recalling that in 2020 in the EU, women won on average 13% less per hour than men. In France, according to the latest estimates, women are paid 5% less than men with equal skills and working hours. This gap has “a long-term impact on women’s quality of life, their risk of falling into poverty and the persistent pension gap”adds the European authority.

Salary in France, “a taboo subject”

A measure which sparks debate among employees: “Perhaps this would make it easier to negotiate our salary after a certain time in the company”estimates a marketing employee, interviewed by TF1. Another fears that this transparency leads “a little more tension” in teams, “saying to yourself: he doesn’t do anything and he earns just as much, while I work like a madman” for the same salaryhe says into the microphone of TF1. “In France, it is extremely taboo and I find that it would help to avoid certain discrepancies which are not fair”also assures a human resources director.

For the European Union, Covid-19 and the economic and social consequences which resulted “make the need to tackle this problem even more pressing: the pandemic has further highlighted the long-known issues linked to women’s participation in the labor market, with women having borne the majority of the responsibilities family during this period”assures the EU.