There’s been a lot of talk about the European Pay Transparency Directive (EU 2023/970) recently. The directive was approved by the European Council in May 2023 and must be transposed into national law by every Member State by 7 June 2026. Belgium is working hard on this. The goal is clear: to reduce the pay gap between men and women in the same job and actively tackle pay discrimination.
Despite the fact that principles such as equal pay for equal work have been enshrined in law for years, and gender discrimination is also prohibited by law, in practice there is a pay gap[1]. This gap is often invisible due to a lack of transparency.
The Pay Transparency Directive therefore introduces five new requirements that will affect companies’ pay policies:
Companies face far-reaching changes to the way they design and communicate about their remuneration policy.
Active brainstorming is already taking place on how to identify pay gaps within the company using objective data and statistics in order to resolve them as quickly as possible.
[1] Adjusted for working hours, the pay gap in Belgium is 7.0%. The unadjusted gap is 19.5%. These figures are based on NSSO data and were calculated using the most comprehensive figures available on women’s and men’s pay and employment of in Belgium in 2023 (source: Institute for Equality between Men and Women).
Bear in mind that the principle of equal remuneration applies to pay and all other benefits, whether in cash or in kind, that employees receive directly or indirectly from their employer in connection with their employment. Any supplementary or variable components of remuneration that employees receive in addition to their regular base salary should also be included.
Bonus and supplementary pension plans and other insured benefits must therefore be taken into account too, so be sure to examine these benefits.
Many companies are currently focussing on gender-neutral job classification, but be aware that any changes to job classification or pay could also affect supplementary pension plans.
We are continuously monitoring the legislation and will bring this subject to your attention again once we have more clarity on how Belgium is incorporating this directive into its legislative framework.
Want to use your supplementary pension to finance real estate? You can do so through an advance, a pledge, or the reconstitution of a mortgage loan. In the detailed note below, we explain what this means for taxation at the time of payout.
Starting in 2026, a significant change will occur in communication regarding supplementary pensions: the familiar pension statement will disappear and be replaced by the pension overview. This change is an implementation of the Transparency Act, with a view to imposing uniform rules on all pension institutions about communication with members in order to ensure greater clarity. In the downloadable note below, we explain everything in detail.
How well do your employees understand their financial future? Research shows that many employees worry about their situation, and this affects both their well-being and their performance. We explain the importance of financial literacy and what companies can do about it.
Introduced in 2012, the Wijninckx contribution is a special social security contribution intended to build up substantial supplementary pensions for employees and the self-employed. It is also an extra social security contribution payable by the employer or self-employed individual. We explain how this contribution is calculated, why it’s important to pay it on time and what role Sigedis plays.