Purpose
The skill addresses the transparency rights in an existing and in a prospective employment relationship. Throughout, it distinguishes what the current EntgTranspG already grants today and what the Directive requires — and, when responding to a request for information, establishes the line that is defensible for the client.
Inputs
- Request for information in its wording with date of receipt; sender and their function
- Employer: number of employees, legal form/ownership, collective agreement coverage
- Pay system: pay groups, criteria, variable components, allowances
- Comparison group: activity, composition, number of persons per gender
- Existing confidentiality clauses in employment contracts or works agreements
- Job advertisements and the course of the hiring procedure
- Whether a works council exists and whether it was involved
Sub-agent architecture
The researcher obtains Directive (EU) 2023/970, the EntgTranspG, the BetrVG and the status of implementation. The drafter formulates the response to the request for information or the request itself and reviews the advertisement and clauses. The reviewer checks the two-month deadline, the completeness of the information and whether current law and the aim of the Directive are cleanly separated.
Procedure
1. Determine the legal basis
| Matter | Currently applicable | Directive |
|---|---|---|
| Information about comparative pay | §§ 10 et seq. EntgTranspG — establishments with generally more than 200 employees | Art. 7 — without a threshold |
| Pay indication in the job advertisement | no general obligation | Art. 5(1) |
| Question about previous salary | admissibility disputed | Art. 5(2) — express prohibition |
| Confidentiality about one's own pay | Standard terms and AGG review | Art. 7(5) |
In the case of state employers, after expiry of the implementation deadline the employee may rely directly on sufficiently precise and unconditional provisions of the Directive (/entgelttransparenz-eu:entgelttransparenz-umsetzungsstand).
2. Pre-contractual transparency (Art. 5 of Directive (EU) 2023/970)
- Paragraph 1 — job applicants have a right to information about a) the starting pay, or its range, based on objective, gender-neutral criteria starting pay or its range and b) where applicable, the relevant provisions of the applicable collective agreement. The information must be provided in such a way that well-founded and transparent pay negotiations are ensured — for example in the published job advertisement, before the job interview or in another way.
- Paragraph 2 — The employer may not ask applicants about their pay development in current or previous employment relationships. That is a clear, unconditional prohibition — the strongest candidate for direct effect vis-à-vis public employers.
- Paragraph 3 — Job advertisements and job titles must be gender-neutral ; recruitment procedures must be conducted in a non-discriminatory manner.
In practice, this means for the conversion: define and justify pay ranges, remove salary history from questionnaires and application forms, review advertisement texts and job titles, adapt interview guidelines.
3. Employees' right to information (Art. 7 of Directive (EU) 2023/970)
- Paragraph 1 — Right to information about the individual pay level and the average pay levels, broken down by gender and for the groups of workers who perform the same or equivalent work, in written form.
- Paragraph 2 — The request may be made via employee representatives or via a equality body be made. If the information is incorrect or incomplete, there is a right to additional and appropriate clarifications and a reasoned response.
- Paragraph 3 — The employer informs all employees annually about this right and about the steps for exercising it. This is a duty to provide information proactively, not an obligation to respond upon request.
- Paragraph 4 — The information is to be provided within a reasonable period, in any event within two months from the date of application.
- Paragraph 5 — Employees must not be prevented from disclosing their pay, in order to enforce the principle of equal pay. Pay confidentiality clauses are ineffective in this respect.
As a flanking measure: Art. 6 — Transparency in the determination of pay and the policy of pay development; the criteria must be objective and gender-neutral and must be Easily accessible to employees. Art. 8 — Accessibility of information, including for persons with disabilities. Art. 12 — Data protection: personal data may be used only for the purpose of equal pay.
4. The applicable German procedure (Sections 10 et seq. EntgTranspG)
As long as no implementing law applies, the request for information under the EntgTranspG must be processed:
| Element | Provision |
|---|---|
| Scope | Establishments with generally more than 200 employees with the same employer (Section 12(1) EntgTranspG) |
| Subject matter | Criteria and procedures of pay determination as well as the comparison pay of an equal or equivalent activity |
| Comparison group | Information only if the comparison activity is performed by at least six employees of the respective other sex is exercised |
| Disclosure | statistical median of the average gross monthly pay, extrapolated to full-time equivalents |
| Way | in establishments bound by collective agreements generally via the works council (§ 14, otherwise via the employer (Section 15 EntgTranspG) |
| Deadline | Response within three months (Section 15(3) EntgTranspG) |
| Cycle | Repetition generally every two years (Section 10(2) EntgTranspG) |
The specific thresholds, deadlines and the role of the works council must be checked against the current wording and cited with the version status [unverifiziert – prüfen].
The directive tightens in three places: no threshold, two instead of three months, and an annual notification obligation — already relevant today for public employers.
5. Draft a response to a request for information
A robust response contains:
- Acknowledgement of receipt with a note of the deadline;
- Review of the comparison group — activity, equivalence according to objective criteria, number of comparison persons;
- Disclosure of the comparison pay in the required form (median or average by sex);
- Criteria and procedures of pay determination;
- Data protection notice — no disclosure of individual pay of identifiable persons;
- Note of the right to request clarifications.
If the comparison group is too small, must be justified transparentlywhy no information is provided — and it must be examined whether a different group formation would be required under the directive.
6. Works constitution law flanking
The works council has under Section 80(1) No. 2a, (2) BetrVG monitoring and information rights regarding pay equality; Section 13 EntgTranspG assigns it a separate role in the information procedure. The right of inspection of gross remuneration lists under Section 80(2) sentence 2 of the Works Constitution Act (BetrVG) must be examined separately. Article 13 of the Directive further strengthens social dialogue.
Deterministic calculation
The calculator in ../../../scripts/legal_calc/ performs only the arithmetic:
# Art. 7 Abs. 4 RL (EU) 2023/970: 2 Monate ab Antrag vom 15.07.2026
python -m scripts.legal_calc.cli frist --ereignis 15.07.2026 --menge 2 --einheit monate --land BY
# § 15 Abs. 3 EntgTranspG: 3 Monate ab Zugang des Verlangens
python -m scripts.legal_calc.cli frist --ereignis 15.07.2026 --menge 3 --einheit monate --land BY
# § 10 Abs. 2 EntgTranspG: Wiederholung des Verlangens nach zwei Jahren
python -m scripts.legal_calc.cli frist --ereignis 15.07.2026 --menge 2 --einheit jahre --land BY
Whether activities are "equivalent" is an assessment based on objective, gender-neutral criteria and must be justified separately.
Sources
Legal acts
- Directive (EU) 2023/970, Articles 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 12, 13 — EUR-Lex
- EntgTranspG – § 3, § 4, Section 10 EntgTranspG, § 11, Section 12 EntgTranspG, § 13, § 14, § 15, Section 16 EntgTranspG
- Article 157 TFEU — EUR-Lex
- Section 80 BetrVG; AGG
- Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR), Articles 5, 6 — EUR-Lex
Commentaries and literature
- ErfK and HWK on the EntgTranspG and on Article 157 TFEU.
- Fitting and GK-BetrVG on Section 80 BetrVG (inspection of gross remuneration lists).
- Articles on the right to information under Directive (EU) 2023/970 in NZA and RdA 2024–2026 (verify citation)
[unverifiziert – prüfen]
Case law
There is case law of the BAGon the right to information under the EntgTranspG and on the burden of proof regarding equal pay; on Directive (EU) 2023/970 there is as yet no case law. Every specific decision must be verified before use in juris, Beck-Online or on bundesarbeitsgericht.de; without evidence it is deemed [unverifiziert – prüfen].
Output format
ENTGELT-AUSKUNFT — <Mandat> — <Datum>
I. Rechtsgrundlage
Umsetzungsgesetz verkündet: [nein — EntgTranspG + Richtlinienwirkung / ja am <Datum>]
Arbeitgeber: [privat / staatlich]
Anwendbar: [§§ 10 ff. EntgTranspG / Art. 7 unmittelbar / beides]
II. Verlangen
Eingang: <Datum> Antragsteller: <…>
Weg: [Betriebsrat § 14 / Arbeitgeber § 15 / Arbeitnehmervertreter Art. 7 Abs. 2]
Frist: [2 Monate Art. 7 Abs. 4 bis <Datum> / 3 Monate § 15 Abs. 3 bis <Datum>]
III. Vergleichsgruppe
Tätigkeit: <…>
Gleichwertigkeit (objektive, geschlechtsneutrale Kriterien): <Begründung>
Personenzahl je Geschlecht: <…> Schwelle sechs (EntgTranspG): [erreicht / nicht erreicht]
Folge bei Unterschreitung: <transparente Begründung; Prüfung anderer Gruppenbildung>
IV. Auskunftsinhalt
Individuelle Entgelthöhe: <…>
Durchschnitt nach Geschlecht / Median: <…>
Kriterien und Verfahren: <…>
Datenschutz Art. 12 / DSGVO: <keine identifizierbaren Einzelentgelte>
V. Vorvertragliche Transparenz Art. 5
Entgeltangabe in Ausschreibung: [vorhanden / fehlt]
Frage nach Gehaltshistorie: [gestellt — unzulässig nach Abs. 2 / unterlassen]
Geschlechtsneutralität Abs. 3: [geprüft]
VI. Verschwiegenheitsklausel
Wortlaut: <…>
Bewertung Art. 7 Abs. 5: [unwirksam, soweit sie die Durchsetzung hindert]
Handlungsbedarf: <Vertragsanpassung>
VII. Jährliche Hinweispflicht Art. 7 Abs. 3
Umgesetzt: [ja / nein — Bringschuld]
VIII.Betriebsrat
§ 13 EntgTranspG / § 80 BetrVG: <Einbindung>
IX. Risiko: 🟢 / 🟡 / 🔴 <Begründung>
X. Quellenverzeichnis
Risks / typical errors
- Two-month and three-month periods confused. Article 7(4) of the Directive provides for two months, Section 15(3) EntgTranspG three; which applies depends on the legal basis.
- Threshold of the Directive assumed. Article 7 contains no 200-employee threshold — that is in the EntgTranspG.
- Individual remuneration disclosed. What is owed are average or median values; identifiable individual remuneration breaches Article 12 of the Directive and the GDPR.
- Question about salary history retained. Article 5(2) of the Directive expressly prohibits it.
- Confidentiality clause left unchanged. Article 7(5) of the Directive deprives it of effect insofar as it prevents the enforcement of equal pay.
- Annual notification obligation misunderstood as an obligation to respond. Article 7(3) of the Directive establishes an obligation to provide information proactively.
- Comparison group formed by job title instead of by equivalence. The criteria are skills, workloads, responsibility and working conditions (Article 4 of the Directive).
- Works council bypassed, although Section 14 EntgTranspG or Section 80 BetrVG involves it.
- Information refused without justification, if the comparison group is too small.
- Case law invented. Every decision must be substantiated or marked as
[unverifiziert – prüfen].