France’s Draft Pay Transparency Law Reaches Parliament: Five Key Changes For Employers

France’s draft law (projet de loi) transposing the EU Pay Transparency Directive was presented at the Council of Ministers on 10 September 2026 and tabled in the Senate the same day. The text now before Parliament departs from the previous draft version published in June 2026 on five important points. We explore what they mean for employers below.

On 4 June 2026, an updated version of the draft law to transpose the Directive was published. It introduced several important changes to the preliminary version, published in March 2026. The draft was amended a second time on 10 September 2026. 

The draft represents significant changes to the current French framework, combining new rules with existing ones. 

The key changes introduced in September 2026 are highlighted below. For a more detailed look at France’s draft law to transpose the Directive, please see our transposition tracker here. 

Companies with 50 to 99 employees: reasonable period dropped

Where the pay gap indicator for an employee category (covering employees performing the same work or work of equal value) shows anunjustified gap above the regulatory threshold, the employer must implement corrective measures to reduce and remedy the gap. This must be done as part of the mandatory negotiations on workplace gender equality. The June draft allowedemployers a ‘reasonable period’ to open these negotiations. That wording has been dropped. The draft also confirms that the forthcoming implementing decrees willnot set a time limit in place of the ‘reasonable period’.

Requests for explanations extend to all declared indicators

In companies withat least 100 employees, the works council (comité social et économique, ‘CSE’), trade union delegates and employees could previously question the employer only on the category pay gap indicator. They may now requestdetails and explanations on all of the employer’s latest declared indicators.

The labour authorities may now order negotiations to open

In a company withat least 100 employees, where the authorities identifyan average pay gap between women and men within an employee category that the employer cannot justify by objective, gender-neutral criteria and the employer takes no action, they may serve formal notice (mise endemeure) on the employer to open negotiations. The June draft contained no such power.

A decree will set the criteria that can justify a pay gap

The draft law leaves it to a decree to specify the objective, gender-neutral criteria that can justify a pay gap between women and men.

Branch-level agreements can set a categorisation method, not the categories themselves

Branch-level (also known as sector-level) negotiations may cover the drawing up of a method for categorising employees who perform equal work or work of equal value. Under the June wording, the branch could also set the categories themselves, for an employer to then adopt. That option has gone under the September draft.

The September draft therefore simplifies the system for establishing categorisation into a two-tier system: (1) company-level agreement; or (2) employer unilateral decision after CSE consultation, with a three-year duration. 

What happens next?

The Government has chosen to allow the Senate to examine the text first, under the accelerated procedure (procédure accélérée), which limits the draft law to a single reading in each chamber before a joint committee. No date has yet been set for the debates. That said, and while the overall timeline remains uncertain, the objective is still to secure a final vote before the presidential elections, scheduled for late April and early May 2027.

Even once the law passes, much will depend on the implementing decrees, which must set the:

• remuneration components that must be taken into account;
• workforce calculation methods;
• pay gap threshold that triggers negotiations;
• objective criteria that may justify pay gaps;
• content and timing of joint pay assessments;
• requirements for corrective action plans;
• reporting procedures;
• information-sharing obligations; and
• employee access to pay gap data.

Takeaway for employers

The draft law strengthens existing obligations and introduces new ones for employers in relation to gender equality at work and pay transparency. Employers may wish to consider the following points in preparation:

• Companies with 50 to 99 employees should be ready to open negotiations as soon as an unjustified pay gap between women and men within a category of workers comes to light.

• Companies with at least 100 employees should prepare for broader questions from employees, the CSE and union delegates, who will now be able to ask the employer about any declared indicator. Where an unjustified pay gap between women and men within a category of workers is identified, these companies will have to justify it on the basis of objective criteria. If they cannot, the gap will have to be remedied through a collective agreement or, failing that, an action plan.

• HR communications and discussions with the CSE may need to be updated to handle a wider range of questions on the indicators.

• Employers will need to define the employee categories themselves, without being able to rely on a branch agreement to set them directly.

• Employers should closely monitor the publication of the implementing decrees, which will set out, in particular, the criteria that can justify a pay gap, together with the key thresholds and deadlines for the new framework.