Under current Luxembourg law, there is no specific obligation for employers to disclose pay or salary ranges to job applicants. However, some employers voluntarily disclose salary ranges in job postings or during interviews to attract candidates.

Not applicable, as Luxembourg has not yet transposed the Directive and there is currently no obligation to provide job applicants with pay range information

Not applicable, as Luxembourg has not yet transposed the Directive and there is currently no prohibition on enquiring about salary history.

Yes, as there are currently no legal provisions prohibiting employers from using salary history information already known to them when determining salaries for internal hires/promotions

Article L. 241-11 of the Labour Code already requires that job vacancy notices and employment advertisements comply with the principle of equal treatment between men and women, which includes having gender-neutral job vacancy notices and job titles. Employers who continue to use a non-compliant job advertisement despite a written warning from the Public Employment Service (Agence pour le développement de l'emploi - ADEM) face fines of €251 to €2,000 (doubled for repeat offences).

There is currently no general requirement to proactively provide employee pay information to employees. However, employee representatives can request the information necessary to perform their duties and this can include data related to remuneration and pay structures, particularly when addressing equality and non-discrimination issues. 

The staff delegation, whose statutory remit includes monitoring strict compliance with equal treatment, is entitled to receive all information necessary to fulfil that function from the employer, on a monthly basis or upon request (Art. L. 414-2 (3) and (4) of the Labour Code). Additionally, in companies with fewer than 150 employees, the employer must provide a written report to the employee representatives once a year that includes the evolution of the pay structure and the level of staff remuneration (Art. L. 414-2 (3) of the Labour Code). 

Twice a year, a company’s management must provide the employee representatives and the equality delegate with gender-disaggregated statistics on pay and pay structures (Articles L. 414-3 (2) of the Labour Code). 

In the financial sector, financial sector entities under the supervision of the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) must publish certain information about material risk takers on their website, such as information concerning the decision-making process used for determining the remuneration policy, information on the link between pay and performance, information on the criteria used for performance measurement and risk adjustment, together with the main parameters and rationale for any annual bonus scheme and any other non-cash benefits.

Article L. 225-3 of the Labour Code already establishes that the various components of pay must be determined according to identical norms for men and women, and that classification and promotion criteria, as well as all other bases for calculating pay (including job evaluation methods) must be common to employees of both sexes. To assess whether work is of equal value, Article L. 225-3 (1) expressly refers to four criteria: qualifications, effort, responsibilities and working conditions (including physical and mental demands). These criteria serve as the benchmarks for comparing jobs of equal value under current law. However, the Labour Code does not go into further detail about how these criteria should be weighted or applied in practice. The forthcoming transposing law is expected to build on these existing criteria and introduce more detailed guidance on job evaluation methodology, in line with the Directive's requirements.

No headcount-based exemptions exist under current Luxembourg equal pay provisions. The equal pay obligation applies to all employers regardless of size.

This provision has not yet been implemented into Luxembourg law. However, the current principle of equal pay for equal work in Luxembourg encompasses all forms of remuneration, including basic salary, and any other benefits paid directly or indirectly in cash or in kind by the employer to the employee (Art. L. 225-2 of the Labour Code).

Article L. 221-1 of the Labour Code defines "salary" broadly as the employee's overall remuneration, encompassing not only the base cash wage but also all accessory benefits and remuneration of any kind, such as bonuses, commissions, gratuities, premiums, free housing and any other benefits of a similar nature. Article L. 225-2 of the Labour Code further confirms that the equal pay principle applies to all forms of remuneration, including any benefits paid directly or indirectly in cash or in kind. On this basis, it is our view that, under current Luxembourg law, pay components such as voluntary benefits or benefits not appearing on a payslip cannot readily be excluded from the calculation of gross hourly pay. The transposing legislation may introduce further guidance on the specific components to be included or excluded.

Not applicable, as Luxembourg has not yet transposed the Directive and there is currently no general obligation to provide information on pay.

Not applicable, as Luxembourg has not yet transposed the Directive and there is currently no general obligation to provide information on pay.

Not applicable, as Luxembourg has not yet transposed the Directive and there is currently no general obligation to provide information on pay.

This information could in principle be requested through the employee representatives and/or through an equality body when addressing equality and non-discrimination issues.

Not applicable, as Luxembourg has not yet transposed the Directive and there is currently no general obligation to provide information on pay.

Not applicable, as Luxembourg has not yet transposed the Directive and there is currently no general obligation to provide information on pay.

i) While this provision has not yet been transposed into Luxembourg law, it is likely that this information will need to be provided in one of the official languages (Luxembourgish, French or German), in English or in the language predominantly spoken within the company, given Luxembourg's highly international workforce.

Confidentiality clauses are not uncommon in employment contracts. However, clauses that prohibit employees from discussing their pay may be considered unlawful if they hinder the enforcement of equal pay provisions. Articles L. 241-8 and following of the Labour Code protect employees from retaliation when they assert their rights related to equal treatment. Therefore, clauses that prohibit employees from discussing pay may be unenforceable if they infringe on these protections.

Once the transposing law is implemented, such clauses will likely become unenforceable. No guidance has yet been provided as to whether existing pay secrecy clauses must be formally rescinded or will simply be rendered unenforceable by operation of law.

Not applicable, as Luxembourg has not yet transposed the Directive.

While there is not yet a general mandatory gender pay gap reporting requirement for all employers, specific obligations already exist within the financial sector, such as collecting data broken down by business area and staff category covering total fixed remuneration, total variable remuneration, number of identified staff members and their fixed and variable remuneration, mean and/or median pay gap, number of high earners per remuneration bracket (€1m–1.5m, €1.5m–2m, €2m–2.5m, etc.) and instruments used for variable pay.

In the financial sector, Circular CSSF 22/836 and Circular CSSF 23/838 clarify that the CSSF will only collect gender pay gap data on an individual basis from credit institutions and investment firms that have at least 50 staff members, excluding the members of the management body in its supervisory function.

Outside the financial sector, as there is not yet any gender pay gap reporting requirement, there is no specific test for determining employee numbers for this purpose. Generally, when employee thresholds are considered under Luxembourg law, they refer to employees within the Luxembourg entity over a specific reference period.

Not applicable, as Luxembourg has not yet transposed the Directive.

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Currently, since there is no general gender pay gap reporting obligation, employers are not required to provide such reports to any authorities or to publish them.

Not applicable, as Luxembourg has not yet transposed the Directive and there is currently no general obligation to provide information on pay.

In the financial sector, the relevant data must be submitted to the CSSF, which then provides the information collected to the EBA.

Luxembourg has not yet enacted any transposing law applying different workforce thresholds. The Directive's standard thresholds will apply unless Luxembourg expressly departs from them in its transposing law. It should be noted that Luxembourg's existing equal pay obligations (Arts. L. 225-1 and following of the Labour Code) apply to all employers regardless of headcount.

Please refer to question 7.a).

Luxembourg has not yet transposed the Directive and no specific timescale for remedial action is prescribed under existing Luxembourg law. If the Labour Inspectorate were to identify pay discrimination, it could impose a specific deadline to remedy the situation which varies depending on the seriousness of the offence

Under existing Luxembourg law, discriminatory pay clauses are null and void (Art. L. 225-4 of the Labour Code) and any pay clause providing lower pay for one sex for equal work is automatically substituted by the higher pay applying to the other sex. 

Under existing Luxembourg law, where an employer chooses to remedy a pay gap by modifying its grading criteria or introducing a job evaluation system, employee representatives must be involved (Arts. L. 414-3 and following and L. 414-9 of the Labour Code). The equality delegate may also advocate for measures promoting gender equality, including equal pay initiatives (Arts. L. 414-3 and following of the Labour Code). The transposing bill of law will set out the specific cooperation procedures required for the purposes of the Directive.

Not defined in existing legislation, as Luxembourg has not yet transposed the Directive.

At present, there are no specific legal requirements for joint pay assessments with employee representatives in Luxembourg. However, joint pay assessments may occur during collective bargaining negotiations involving trade unions.

As mentioned above, in companies employing at least 150 employees over a specific reference period of 12 months, employee representatives must be involved in the setting-up or modification of grading criteria (Article L. 414-9 of the Labour Code).

Under existing Luxembourg law, there is no mandatory information to be included in a joint pay assessment, since there are currently no specific legal requirements for joint pay assessments as Luxembourg has not yet transposed the Directive.

This has not yet been addressed in existing Luxembourg law, since there are currently no specific legal requirements for joint pay assessments as Luxembourg has not yet transposed the Directive.

Luxembourg is subject to the GDPR (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) and its national data protection law (loi du 1er août 2018 portant organisation de la Commission nationale pour la protection des données et du régime général sur la protection des données) applies. Where disclosure of pay information under the Directive could lead to the identification of an individual employee, GDPR principles (data minimisation, purpose limitation) would apply. No specific domestic provision has yet been adopted to limit access to identifiable pay data in the context of pay transparency. This will need to be addressed by the transposing legislation.

No specific sanctions for breach of pay transparency or gender pay gap reporting obligations have yet been introduced, as the Directive has not been transposed into Luxembourg law. The sanctions will need to be established by the transposing legislation. 

Under existing Luxembourg law, sanctions may apply in connection with the following types of breach: equal pay breaches (Art. L. 225-5 of the Labour Code), non-compliant or discriminatory job advertisements (Art. L. 241-11 of the Labour Code) and discriminatory contractual provisions as to pay (Art. L. 225-4 of the Labour Code).

An employer found guilty of pay discrimination may face several consequences, including:

• serious misconduct – immediate resignation of the employee with the possibility of them bringing a claim in court for the employer’s serious misconduct;

• payment of wage difference – payment of the difference in wages owed to the employee, retroactively covering the period of discrimination up to the last three years;

• damages – compensation for any non-financial harm suffered by the employee;

• penalties – fines ranging from €251 to €25,000. The amount of the fine can be increased and a term of imprisonment imposed if the discrimination was deliberate (Article 455 of the Criminal Code); and

• reputational damage – negative publicity and potential harm to the employer's public image. Moreover, the employer may be required to adjust their pay practices to ensure compliance with equal pay laws. 

Under existing Luxembourg law, once an employee establishes facts giving rise to a presumption of discrimination, the burden shifts to the employer to prove no breach occurred.

Employees are protected from reprisals for protesting against discriminatory conduct, filing complaints or bringing legal proceedings. Any retaliatory dismissal is null and void. The employee has 15 days to apply to the President of the Labour Court for an order maintaining the employment contract.

Employees may also complain to the Centre for Equal Treatment, which has jurisdiction to investigate discrimination and issue recommendations.

Approved non-profit associations (Art. L. 241-5 of the Labour Code) and nationally representative trade unions (Art. L. 241-6 of the Labour Code) may exercise rights on behalf of victims of discrimination, with the written consent of the individual concerned.

Under Luxembourg law, employees are represented primarily through staff delegations (délégations du personnel), which must be established in companies with 15 or more employees (Arts. L. 411-1 and following of the Labour Code). 

Employers with fewer than 15 employees have no obligation to establish a staff delegation. How employers will fulfil their pay transparency obligations vis-à-vis employees in these circumstances will need to be specified in the transposing bill. 

Not applicable, as Luxembourg has not yet transposed the Directive.

Under existing Luxembourg law, failure to consult or inform the staff delegation on matters within its competence may give rise to fines of between €251 and €15,000.

Not applicable, as Luxembourg has not yet transposed the Directive.

Not applicable, as Luxembourg has not yet transposed the Directive. 

Not applicable, as Luxembourg has not yet transposed the Directive.

Not applicable, as Luxembourg has not yet transposed the Directive.

Not applicable, as Luxembourg has not yet transposed the Directive.

Luxembourg's unadjusted gender pay gap was approximately 0.7% in 2022 (Eurostat), one of the lowest in the EU.