Recruiting
Pay transparency in recruiting: Article 5 duties
Under Article 5 of the EU Pay Transparency Directive, employers must inform candidates of the starting pay or its range in advance – in the job posting or before the interview. Asking about previous pay is prohibited. These duties apply to employers of any size.
What must be disclosed in advance
Candidates have the right to receive information about the starting pay or its range from the prospective employer – based on objective, gender-neutral criteria. Where applicable, the relevant provisions of the collective agreement must also be indicated. The information must come early enough to allow an informed pay negotiation – for example in the published posting or at the latest before the interview.
A range must be realistic: a band that effectively covers any salary defeats the purpose of transparency and is legally vulnerable. In practice, employers derive the range from the pay band of the target role.
The salary history ban
Employers may not ask candidates about their pay history in current or previous employment relationships. The rationale: historical salaries carry existing pay discrimination into the new employment. The ban affects interview guides, application forms and applicant tracking systems – corresponding fields and questions must be removed everywhere.
Discussing pay expectations remains permissible: candidates may state their expectation, and employers may ask for it – just not for the actual previous salary.
Gender-neutral postings and procedures
Job postings and job titles must be gender-neutral and recruitment processes non-discriminatory. Together with the pay range, this creates an auditable documentation trail: employers who archive range, criteria basis and process steps per posting can prove compliance later.
Austrian specifics: collective agreement minimum today, range tomorrow
In Austria, job postings must already state the minimum pay under the applicable collective agreement and any willingness to overpay (Section 9(2) of the Equal Treatment Act). The Directive goes further: it requires the actual starting pay or a realistic range instead of the formal collective agreement minimum. How the Austrian legislator will combine both requirements is an open transposition question (as of July 2026) – the safe practice is to state a realistic range in addition to the collective agreement note already now.
Checklist for the recruiting process
These steps have proven effective when adapting the recruiting process:
- Define pay bands per job family and level and use them as the source for posting ranges.
- Extend posting templates with the pay range and the collective agreement note.
- Remove salary history questions from forms, ATS fields and interview guides.
- Train interviewers and communicate the ban in a documented way.
- Archive range and criteria basis per posting to be able to prove compliance.
Frequently asked questions
Must the pay range appear directly in the job ad?
The Directive requires the information in advance – in the posting or in good time before the interview. Stating it directly in the ad is the most transparent and practical approach.
May employers ask about the current salary in an interview?
No. Asking about pay history is prohibited under Article 5. Asking about the candidate’s pay expectation remains permissible.
Is the Austrian collective agreement minimum note still sufficient?
Under current Austrian law yes, under the Directive no: it requires the actual starting pay or a realistic range. Until national transposition, combining both is recommended.