NEW LEGISLATION TO be enacted next year will force employers to tell job applicants the salary range for a role when they advertise it.

The new rules will also ban employers from asking job applicants what they are currently paid.

The Department of Equality said the legislation will be enacted “as soon as possible in 2027″. However, it is not yet clear if it will force employers to implement the new requirements straight away. It said the obligations on employers will be phased in.

Irish workers should have already had these rights for the past four months, as well as a new right to request information on average pay levels for women and men doing the same or equivalent work in their organisation.

However, the government has failed to implement an EU directive on time.

The European Commission told The Journal that it was of the “utmost importance” that member states swiftly implement the Pay Transparency Directive as delays are hindering the fight for gender equality.

At present, job applicants in the Irish private sector can go through several rounds of interviews and complete tests and presentations – at a significant personal cost of time and energy – without knowing what the salary is for the role for which they are applying. 

Just 39% of Irish job postings in March 2026 on the job search website Indeed included salary information, with transparency more likely in lower-paid roles such as childcare. Indeed said it was clear that European employers will remain reluctant to adjust their job posting practices until the law forces them to.

It is also commonplace for Irish employers to ask candidates what they are currently earning or what their “salary expectations” are, while keeping their own cards close to their chest right up until the point at which a job offer is made.

The Irish government plans to go beyond the minimum requirements of the EU directive by requiring the salary range to be disclosed in job advertisements, rather than merely before interviews.

It’s not yet clear how wide or narrow these salary ranges will need to be. These details will have to be worked out in the next few months. 

Putting the onus on employers

Relying on past pay as a reference point for salary negotiations entrenches the existing pay gap between men and women. Research from the UK, Denmark and Canada has shown that improving pay transparency helps to narrow the gender pay gap.

The National Women’s Council said the government’s delay in enacting the new rules was stalling wage fairness for women. 

Corinne Hasson, the organisation’s executive director, said it was “extremely disappointing” that the government missed the deadline.

She said the EU directive will shift the onus onto employers to correct the gender pay gap.

Under the directive, employers will have to provide employees, on request, with information on average pay levels, broken down by sex, for workers doing the same work or work of equal value.

The unadjusted gender pay gap in Ireland is 8.3%, which means women earn on average 8.3% less per hour than men across the economy. The EU average gender pay gap is wider at 11.1%.

Ireland already requires gender pay gap reporting by companies, which is also one of the provisions of the new directive.

A spokesperson for the European Commission noted that member states had already had three years to transpose the Pay Transparency Directive into national law before the 7 June 2026 deadline.

“Equal work deserves equal pay, regardless of whether it is performed by a woman or a man,” the commission said.

It said the directive would deliver “real change for workers, and women in particular”.

The commission said it was crucial that member states quickly and effectively bring in the new rules so employers and workers alike have legal certainty.

“Confusion and delays hinder both our competitiveness and our fight for gender equality,” the commission said.

The Department of Equality said the government was “fully committed to the complete and meaningful implementation of the Pay Transparency Directive”.

“Work is ongoing at pace to prepare the necessary primary legislation as a matter of priority for the government,” it said.