In brief
The European Commission and European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) launched updated EU wide guidelines on gender-neutral job evaluation and classification in the form of a step by step toolkit developed to assist employers with their obligations under the Pay Transparency Directive, in particular in assessing work of equal value. While voluntary, the toolkit is highly relevant for employers preparing for the Directive’s day‑one obligations, particularly the requirement to assess and compare work of equal value across roles. On any view, application of it is a significant undertaking.
Key takeaways
- Job evaluation toolkits provide a structured methodology required to identify roles performing work of equal value, forming the foundation for enforcing the right to equal pay for work of equal value.
- Failure to ensure equal pay for work of equal value constitutes an immediate compliance risk, irrespective of size of an organization.
- The EU Commission and EIGE toolkit sets out three distinct job evaluation methodologies, calibrated to an organization’s headcount and the number and complexity of roles. The toolkit is built around the four objective and gender-neutral criteria of skills, effort, responsibility and working conditions.
- The methodologies set out in the EU‑wide guidelines are not the only means of complying with the Pay Transparency Directive, but if used, require very significant work by employers in preparation for the implementation of the Directive.
In more detail
Background
The Pay Transparency Directive must be implemented by all EU member states by 7 June 2026. For more details see our earlier update here.
To date, no Member State has yet fully transposed the Directive. Rather an increasing number of Member States have indicated that they will miss the 7 June 2026 deadline including Netherlands, Sweden (which has stated it will not implement the Directive) and France. Notwithstanding these delays, the European Commission has confirmed that the deadline remains unchanged and has issued EU‑wide guidelines on gender‑neutral job evaluation and classification approximately two months ahead of that deadline.
While many organizations are well underway with preparing for transposition of the Directive into local legislation, there are many areas of uncertainty, not least as regards the broad nature of some key compliance obligations in the Directive, many of which have been replicated in draft legislation relatively unchanged.
Work of equal value
One area of particular uncertainty is how to conduct an equal value analysis to comply with many of the Directive’s requirements.
While the concept of work of equal value has long existed under EU law, the Directive introduces a significantly more structured and transparent framework for assessing equal pay. This is especially relevant for the day‑one transparency obligations, which require employers to disclose the criteria governing pay, job levels, and to provide pay information on request. This extends beyond an individual’s own pay to average pay of workers in the same category, i.e. those performing the same work or work of equal value. This obligation applies to all employers, regardless of size, and is therefore already a live issue with the transposition deadline just over two months away. It also underpins the gender pay gap reporting obligations applicable to large employers from next year.
Article 4 of the Directive expressly addresses work of equal value and requires pay structures to enable a clear assessment of whether workers fall within the same category, based on objective, gender‑neutral criteria. This includes skills, effort, responsibility and working conditions, and, if appropriate, any other factors which are relevant to the specific job or position with the caveat that soft skills should not be undervalued. In practical terms, this requires employers to conduct a structured, organization‑wide assessment of all roles, typically by scoring each role against at least the core criteria set out in Article 4. Where roles receive the same or comparable scores, they are treated as belonging to the same category of workers performing work of equal value, even if they differ materially in title, content, or function.
European Commission and European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) toolkit
To assist organizations across the EU to prepare for the Directive EIGE, in consultation with the European Commission, has now published updated guidance on gender neutral job evaluation and classification in the form of a toolkit. This guidance is intended to assist employers in applying Article 4 of the Directive. The toolkit sets out what are said to be practical steps and is designed to support micro-organizations, small and medium sized organizations and large organizations. It consists of eight tools for employers and one aimed specifically at trade unions and another at workers. It includes guidance, templates recommendations, case studies and practical examples.
The following toolkits outline the key requirements that the guidelines recommend employers observe when carrying out a job evaluation and classification exercise:
- Tool 3 is designed for micro-organizations with fewer than 10 employees and applies a streamlined Graduated Factor Comparison Method. Each role is evaluated against a predefined set of factors and levels (0–5), with all core criteria and subfactors weighted equally. The points associated with the selected levels are then aggregated to identify the relevant category of workers, with the guidelines recommending the establishment of four pay grades.
- Tool 4 is designed for small organizations with 10-49 employees and medium‑sized organizations with up to 250 employees, provided the organization has fewer than 15 distinct roles. It applies the Pair Comparison Method, under which each role is systematically compared directly with every other role in the organization. For example, where five roles are assessed, this results in ten pairwise comparisons. In each pairwise comparison, the role with higher overall requirements is awarded one point, supported by a clear justification for that assessment. Once all comparisons are completed, the points are aggregated for each role to produce total scores, which then form the basis for identifying categories of workers.
- Tool 5 is intended for employers with more than 50 employees and more than 15 distinct roles. It applies a Point‑Factor Method based on a structured factor and sub‑factor plan, with scoring levels from 0 to 8. A total points framework representing 100% is first defined. Then the four core criteria are weighted, and each subfactor is further weighted to reflect the organization’s sector, values, and strategic objectives. Each role is assessed against the four criteria and their subfactors, and the points are aggregated to generate an overall score per role. For the purpose of identifying worker categories, each 10% band of the total score constitutes a separate category.
Importantly, the toolkit is voluntary. Tools 3 to 5 are not the exclusive means of complying with the Pay Transparency Directive. As long as pay structures rely on objective, gender‑neutral criteria including skills, effort, responsibility and working conditions, allow for role‑specific differentiation, and are applied consistently and without bias, employers can achieve compliance using alternative methodologies.
Apart from the evaluation methods, the toolkit also sets out recommendations for gathering the job information, e.g., through job interviews with employees, adjusting job descriptions and tracking processes as well as negotiating aids for trade unions and support for equal pay conversations for individual employees. Notably, it also envisages a more active involvement of employee representatives throughout the job evaluation and classification process than many employers may have anticipated based on the text of the Directive alone. Arguably, this element of the guide represents significant gold-plating of the Directive’s requirements.
Comment
The EIGE toolkit underscores that assessing work of equal value is a core, operational requirement under the Pay Transparency Directive, not a theoretical concept. Although voluntary, it provides a clear benchmark for how Article 4 is expected to be applied in practice, albeit one which, if adopted, requires employers to undertake an enormous job scoring exercise in a period of a little over two months (for any jurisdiction which implements the Directive on time).
For employers, the key implications are clear: job evaluation frameworks must be structured and well documented; existing grading systems should be reviewed for alignment with gender‑neutral criteria; and trade unions or employee representatives may push for material involvement in practice. With the transposition deadline fast approaching, work‑of‑equal‑value assessments should be treated as a priority compliance task.
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