Ludovico Bianchi
It would be a nice sign of professional maturity, perhaps also civil. But in daily reality the speech is more complicated. If our salary is higher than the average, we risk causing envy and suspicions. If it is lower, we could feel judged, chopped, even humiliated.
And then there is the question of privacy: The content of the paycheck has always been considered a strictly personal data. What title should anyone learn about it?
The truth is that these fears, although understandable, do not take in the mark. There European directive 2023/970approved two years ago and destined to become law also in Italy by June 7, 2026will not force us to share our coupon with colleagues at all. We will not be forced to reveal how much we earn. But a fundamental principle will change: the wage opacity will no longer be the rule.
The heart of the question: the gender salary gap
In Europe, Women continue to earn on average 13% less than men for each working hour. A gap that resists time and reforms, often disguised by part-time contracts, slower advances, pressing “discretion”.
One of the main reasons? Nobody knows how much others really earnand this ignorance protects inequalities.
The new EU directive was born precisely to fill this gap. From now on, every worker and each worker will have the right to Know the average salary bands of colleagues who do the same job or a job of equal value, divided by gender and role. It is not, therefore, of sparkling individual salaries, but of obtain transparent and comparable data. If there are imbalances, they must be justified. Otherwise, we talk about wage discrimination.
Farewell to the taboo, not to confidentiality
In Italy the so -called has always “Salarial secret”: the employer cannot disseminate the data contained in the paycheck, which remain protected by the right to privacy.
The European directive does not deny this protection, but It requires companies a new form of structural transparency: the wage bands must be communicated at the request of the workers, within two months from the question. And if the answer is vague or incomplete, you can ask for an integration.
Employment contracts will also have to change: The clauses that prevent employees from talking about their salary will be prohibitedand the employer will have to remember at least once a year that everyone has the right to know (and share) their salary, if they want it.
Companies will have to adapt (and perhaps review something)
Companies will have time until June 7, 2026 to get in order. After that date, the sanctions will start. But more than fines, companies are worrying is the potential chain effect: Wage transparency could question years of discretionary practicesbonuses granted “for merits” difficult to quantify, or different treatments for the same role.
Still, those who work correctly and consistency has nothing to fear. The directive does not ask to level everything, but to motivate the salary differences clearly. If a salary is higher, there must be an objective reason. And demonstrable.
A step forward cultural, more than bureaucratic
The real challenge, however, is cultural. For too long, talking about money was a taboo. The wage secret has become a social rule, more than legal. But this reticence had a very high cost, paid above all by women, young people and precarious workers.
Clear how much a job is worth and how it is paid It means strengthening people’s dignity, not violating privacy.
What if any envy will be born? Maybe yes. But it will also be an opportunity to ask uncomfortable and necessary questions. Why Whoever earns less has the right to know if it is right so.
