The EU Pay Transparency Directive’s “right to information” requirement, effective June 2026, gives employees the right to request information from their employer about how their pay compares to colleagues doing the same or equivalent work.
Right to information requires employers to respond to the question workers care most deeply about: “How does my pay compare to others?” This represents a fundamental shift in employee communications. Organizations must now be ready to clearly explain, justify, and document their pay decisions at an employee’s request.
This guide details what Total Rewards and compliance leaders need to know about right to information, best practices to start preparing now, and how to use technology to navigate more demanding transparency requirements.
What is the right to information requirement?
Starting in 2026, employees in the EU will have the right to request information about their own pay and the average pay for colleagues performing the same work or work of equal value, broken down by gender.
Employers must respond in writing within two months (or potentially sooner, depending on local legislation) with information about the employee’s individual pay level as compared to their peers. As defined by the Directive, “pay” includes all forms of compensation and benefits including base pay, bonuses, equity, allowances, and much more.
This isn’t a one-time requirement. Once the Directive is implemented by each EU country, your HR teams, managers, and leaders will need to be ready to respond to these requests on an ongoing basis and alert employees at least once a year of their right to request this information.
Who needs to comply?
Any employer with at least one employee in the EU must comply with the right to information requirement, regardless of company size or headquarters location.
What right to information means for you (and why it matters now)
Right to information increases the pressure to harmonize a global Total Rewards strategy that is locally responsive.
For employers with EU workers, this is an entirely new level of transparency. Many organizations have only seen this for certain roles, like those in collective bargaining agreements, contractual roles or roles with large numbers of employees who are paid the same.
This shift brings both challenges and opportunities. Many recognize that it will take time to build the confidence and capability their people managers need to navigate these conversations well. As a result, organizations are starting with a compliant, defensible approach — one that meets the requirements of the Directive today, with the intention to evolve and mature their processes over time.
Right to information makes transparency tangible by exposing how fair your pay practices truly are. It turns your pay practices into a mirror: Total Rewards leaders need to be prepared to justify what’s reflected back.
Four steps to get ahead of right to information
We are working with leading global enterprises every day, helping them navigate the Directive with practical strategies and technology. Here are four steps to help your organization prepare for the right to information.
1. Build your data foundation.
You can’t justify pay differences you haven’t analyzed. Start by:
- Analyzing your pay data to identify gender-based pay differences
- Identifying discretionary pay elements (such as bonuses, allowances, and equity) that drive these gaps and will require clear explanations
Knowing where you have pay differences that might require explanation early lets you fix and justify them before the right to information takes effect.
Want to know more about what pay data to include in your analysis? Read Pay Equity Analysis and the EU Pay Transparency Directive: What Rewards Elements to Include.
2. Standardize how you group employees and justify pay gaps.
The right to information requires pay comparisons by employees doing the same work or work of equal value, which is typically defined by your existing job architecture, grades, or collective agreements.
Look at your current structures to ensure they support these comparisons and allow you to clearly explain to your employees any pay differences using objective factors like skills or experience. While not required by law, if you can’t clearly explain pay differences, you will erode the trust your employees have in your Total Rewards programs.
Identify which gaps exist, determine if they’re justified, and prioritize adjustments as needed. Strive for simple, consistent explanations.
Not sure what to do about your job architecture? Read Job Architecture and the EU Pay Transparency Directive: What’s Really Required?
3. Develop your communications plan.
Right to information opens up a new level of dialogue between employers and workers, giving you an opportunity to build trust through clear communication.
- To prepare effectively, consider these simple steps:
- Clarify your core compensation messages, including how you make pay decisions.
- Identify who on your team will respond to employee requests.
- Use technology to streamline this process.
- Provide straightforward guidance to managers and HR so they’re comfortable discussing pay with employees.
Start small by testing your messaging with a few trusted managers and HR team members, then expand gradually across your organization.
4. Get ahead of right to information requests.
Don’t wait until you receive the first request.
Syndio customers are already using our enterprise platform to instantly generate compliant reports in any EU language and get comfortable with the process. They can explore how they want to customize their responses and confidently communicate their approach to pay.
Why right to information does not mean “open access”
A critical but often overlooked distinction about right to information is that the Directive explicitly says “request” — not “reveal.” It doesn’t mandate open access or instant self-service lookups for employees or managers.
Instant access may sound appealing, but in reality, most managers aren’t ready to navigate these nuanced conversations without structured guidance. Pay is complex, impacted by a number of factors such as performance, location, experience, role scope, and union agreements. Providing raw pay data without the accompanying context often creates confusion and leads to misunderstanding. Real transparency requires digestible context.
Right to information compliance is best approached deliberately and thoughtfully, giving you control over what’s shared and equipping managers and HR teams to confidently deliver clear explanations with the right context.
At Syndio, our differentiated approach to right to information means delivering precisely the required information — no more, no less — with the essential context employees need to understand their pay. It’s pragmatic and effective transparency designed to build trust.
Syndio helps you comply with speed, ease, and accuracy
The EU Pay Transparency Directive is complex, but compliance doesn’t have to be.
Syndio gives you the technology and expert guidance to create right to information reports, identify and fix pays gaps ≥5%, create targeted remediation budgets, streamline reporting, and communicate with confidence. You can instantly generate Article 7 right to information reports in any of the EU’s 24 languages and respond to employee requests with compliant, editable, ready-to-share reports.
Designed and backed by the world’s leading compensation and legal experts, Syndio simplifies compliance without sacrificing precision.
Ready to simplify compliance and right to information?
The information provided herein does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice. All information, content, and materials are provided for general informational purposes only. The links to third-party or government websites are offered for the convenience of the reader; Syndio is not responsible for the contents on linked pages.
