LEmployees are ready – companies, no less so. In the a new study published on November 18, the Executive Employment Association (Apec) examined the issue of pay transparency in four European countries (France, Italy, Spain and Germany). The first “surprise”? The well-known French taboos around money are not verified on the ground. The majority of French executives say they feel comfortable discussing their salaries, either with their managers (80%), their loved ones (79%) or their colleagues (63%), with similar proportions to those observed by their European counterparts. Like its neighbors, six in ten French executives also say they want everyone’s salary to be known by everyone in the company. “This expectation is increasingly strong among young executives: 71% of those under 35 want this transparency,” stressed Laetitia. Niaudeau, deputy director generalApec.
However, for now, these aspirations remain largely unfulfilled… Meanwhile the new European directive on pay transparency must be changed by June 2026. in French law, French companies are in fact far from functioning well. Three-quarters of companies said they had not yet begun preparing for it. “Because the elements of the transposition are unknown, it is not easy for companies to move forward in a very proactive way on this,” said Laetitia Niaudeau. However, the journey ahead will be quite long compared to current practices. »
Therefore, when it comes to recruitment, the obligation to publish salary or salary range in offers only applies to 46% of them – while 85% consider this to be good practice. When displaying remuneration, most companies (82%) prefer to display salary ranges rather than exact salaries. Practices also vary widely depending on the sector: only 32% of industrial companies say they systematically publish salaries in job offers, compared with 50% in services.
Regarding the ban on asking for candidates’ previous salaries (another obligation set out in the European directive), French companies have also largely flouted the rules. 60% of companies “systematically or frequently” ask candidates about their current or previous salary. The proportion even increases to 73% in medium-sized companies (ETI) and large organizations. “Even if some recruiters consider this information unreliable, it allows them to quickly ensure that salary will not be prohibitive, to verify that the salary they are offering is in line with the market and, sometimes, to evaluate the candidate’s level,” the study said.
READ ALSO Pay transparency: what will change for companies and employeesRegarding the transparency of salary policies in companies, practices are still far from expectations. Only a third of SMEs and more than half of large companies (51%) provide salary scales for their employees. This situation is also reflected in the feelings of employees: in France, almost one in two managers (46%) considers their company to be unclear when it comes to salaries, compared with, for example, 28% of Italian managers or 33% of Spanish managers. This feeling is more pronounced among women (52%), large company executives (58%) and non-managers (60%). The salary increase mechanism also came under particular criticism from French executives: 41% overall considered their company unfair in providing salary increases.
Tension between coworkers
The APEC survey also revealed that, among the organization, the implementation of European directives is considered a major challenge. “The first challenge is the investment represented by compliance, both in terms of HR processes, remuneration coverage to compensate for gaps, and investment by managers,” explains Laetitia Niaudeau. This project will consume a lot of energy and resources in the company. » “For many SMEs, which often do not have dedicated HR services, support from external experts can prove crucial, both to safeguard processes and to limit the risk of errors or litigation,” warns Apec.
READ ALSO “It really didn’t make me laugh”: is humor a good idea? Second difficulty: justifying the salary differences practiced in the organization. 63% of managers stated that they would have difficulty explaining certain differences in remuneration in their teams. “Managers do not always own the objective elements that cause these differences and they do not always take responsibility when decisions are made,” said the APEC expert. This will force them to put more work into annual interviews, set goals and communicate more than they currently do on remuneration issues. And that worries them. » Managers are also concerned that the new regulatory framework will have consequences for the social climate: 6 out of 10 managers believe that if salaries in their teams were known, they would see tension between colleagues or a decrease in commitment on the part of certain employees.
“Opportunity for business”
And finally, in terms of appeal, the situation is at risk of changing, the company warns. “Their fear is that certain candidates – especially women – will censor themselves when placing, in a job offer, a higher level of remuneration than their current level and tell themselves that it is not legal for them to apply,” explains Laetitia Niaudeau. On the other hand, if our current salary level is higher than shown, this does not make us want to apply. »
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Despite all these problems, this European directive remains a “real opportunity for the business world,” stressed the Deputy Director General of APEC. It is clearly a tool to reduce the gap between women and men* and promote equality, a tool to build trust within the company, between employees and managers, and between employees in teams. This is also an important social dialogue issue, because all efforts regarding transparency will be carried out together with social partners. Ultimately, we think that this will also be a performance driver for the company. »
*According to the latest Apec barometerby 2025, the median remuneration of male executives will be 16% higher than that of women (compared to 12% in 2024).
