• Under the German Pay Transparency Act, disclosure requests can only be asserted within a narrow time frame. With respect to pay information, the statute provides only an establishment-level right to disclosure, not a companywide one.
• The EU Pay Transparency Directive will substantially expand employers’ disclosure and reporting obligations. Going forward, job applicants will have a right to pay information as early as the interview stage.
• Germany must transpose the EU Pay Transparency Directive by June 7, 2026.

The German Federal Labor Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht (BAG)) is currently examining the scope of information disclosure rights under the existing German Pay Transparency Act (Entgelttransparenzgesetz (EntgTranspG)). The underlying case is a decision from the Regional Labor Court of Cologne (Landesarbeitsgericht Köln (LAG)), Judgment of February 12, 2025, Ref. No. 5 Sa 479/23). At the same time, a fundamental reform of the Pay Transparency Act is underway to transpose the EU Pay Transparency Directive (EU 2023/970), which will have significant implications for employers.

Current Legal Framework: The LAG on the Scope of Disclosure Rights

The LAG recently issued an opinion in a case in which a female employee requested information about the criteria used to determine pay and the median salary of her male colleagues. She sought information spanning multiple years and covering the entire company.

The court dismissed the claim, clarifying three key points:

1. Where the...

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