Pay Transparency Is Coming. Here’s What It Means.

A lot of companies are not ready for it.

I keep seeing employers treat salary like it is a hideous secret. Candidates ask for a range and some companies treat it like a sign of disinterest in the role. “They’re just in for the money!”

Meanwhile candidates are applying for jobs with absolutely no clue whether the role pays €40K or €140K, wasting everybody’s time in the process.

That era is ending.

While Ireland is still finalising the legislation here (honestly, we’re always way behind when it comes to implementing EU directives), it’s still going to happen. Companies are going to have to get a lot more open about pay.

Here is the practical version of what that actually means.

First: salary transparency is becoming mandatory.

Candidates should receive salary information early enough to make informed decisions before progressing through interviews.

So the classic:

“Competitive salary depending on experience”

…isn’t going to work.

Companies will be required to provide the salary band early in the process, likely before first interview. Technically, it doesn’t need to be on the advert but candidates should get the salary band before progressing through interviews.

Candidates should know what the pay range is before getting dragged through four interviews, a personality assessment, a technical task, and a coffee chat with somebody called Josh who “just wants to assess culture fit”.

It’s ridiculous that people can go through interviews without knowing if they’ll be paid what actually makes sense for them.

This is probably the biggest immediate change companies will feel. Once pay becomes more transparent, pay gaps and inconsistencies become a lot harder to hide.

The directive introduces stronger requirements around equal pay for equal work or work of equal value, and employees will have the right to request information about pay levels and pay progression criteria.

Which means if two people are doing broadly similar jobs but one is being paid wildly more because they negotiated aggressively during the hiring process, that becomes harder to quietly ignore.

And this is where the directive could have a meaningful impact.

Because historically, not everybody has entered salary negotiations from the same position of power.

Women are statistically more likely to undersell themselves during negotiation. People relocating internationally or requiring work permits often accept lower offers because they are balancing immigration pressure, relocation stress, or fear of losing sponsorship.

Junior people from underrepresented backgrounds may not even know what “normal market rate” looks like.

I have seen candidates apologise while asking for perfectly reasonable salaries.

I have seen highly skilled people quietly accept less because they felt “lucky to get sponsorship”.

I have seen people discover they were massively underpaid only after talking to peers years later.

Transparency does not magically fix inequality overnight. But it removes some of the fog that lets inequality quietly continue unchecked.

If salary bands are visible, it becomes harder to pay two equally capable people wildly different amounts.

If progression criteria are documented, it becomes harder for promotions and raises to depend entirely on who self-advocates most aggressively.

And if companies are required to examine pay gaps internally, some uncomfortable conversations are probably coming.

The biggest shock for some companies probably won’t come from candidates. It’ll come internally, when existing employees start comparing their compensation against newly visible salary bands and newer hires.

The companies that adapt early and get ahead of this will probably benefit most.

And from a recruiter perspective? Best thing ever.

If I never again have the “Unfortunately the role is actually €35K below your expectations” conversation, I’ll be a happy recruiter.

The next 12-18 months are going to be interesting. A lot of companies will realise their compensation structures are solid. A lot will realise they absolutely are not.

But either way, pay transparency is no longer a “maybe someday” conversation.

So get ready!

As a tiny pitch for nineDots - we always provide salaries on first contact. With a few exceptions, we always put the salary in the job advert. (some clients ask us not to do this.) If we don’t, we’ll tell you the first time you ask.

If you want to know more about the pay transparency act, reach out to me on rose@ninedots.ioand I’ll do my best to answer your questions.

If you want to hire loads of people with a clear and transparent salary structure, or if you want a job where you know the salary band immediately - email info@ninedots.io or check our our salary guide here.