New Equal Pay Act: Practical Implications for Employers

The National Council of the Slovak Republic has adopted Act No. 76/2026 Coll. on Equal Pay for Men and Women for Equal Work or Work of Equal Value and on Amendments to Certain Acts (the “Act” or the “Equal Pay Act”), which will enter into force on 7 June 2026.

The Act transposes Directive (EU) 2023/970 of the European Parliament and of the Council, which aims to strengthen the application of the principle of equal pay through pay transparency measures and enforcement mechanisms.

We have already addressed the topic of pay transparency and the forthcoming Equal Pay Act in our previous articles, where we discussed both Directive (EU) 2023/970 and the Slovak legislative proposal implementing the Directive into the Slovak legal system.

Accordingly, this article does not revisit the legislative framework in its entirety. Instead, it focuses primarily on the practical implications of the new legislation for employers. The Act will not only introduce new administrative obligations but will also require employers to reassess their internal remuneration policies, recruitment processes, documentation, and HR procedures.

As also stated in the explanatory memorandum, the objective of the Act is not merely the formal transposition of the Directive, but above all to “establish a pay transparency system that enables the effective monitoring and assessment of pay disparities between men and women.”