Estonia - Dispute over pay transparency - April 30, 2026

The Ministry of Economic Affairs plans to adopt parts of the European Union’s Pay Transparency Directive that do not increase the administrative burden on businesses, after ministers vowed not to transpose the legislation. A week earlier, the Minister of Economic Affairs and Industry said the directive would not be transposed into national law because it creates too much additional work for businesses. He said, the country would rather pay a fine from the EU than create more bureaucracy for businesses. The country has the highest gender pay gap in the European Union, ranging from 13 to 18% depending on the statistics cited. Now, the ministry has said some clauses will be adopted. These include employers notifying job applicants of the salary range for the position before the job interview takes place.

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