Amendments to the Employment Contracts Act will soon make the salary range public before the interview

Amendments to the Employment Contracts Act entering into force on 13 July 2026 will partially transpose the European Parliament and Council Directive on pay transparency. As a result, employers will in future have to provide a jobseeker with information about the salary or salary range no later than before the job interview.

Employers will in future have to disclose salary information before the interview

Under the amendments, employers will in future have to provide jobseekers with information about the expected salary for the position offered or the salary range, primarily in the job advertisement or otherwise before the interview. This means that an employer may choose whether to publish the salary information already in the job advertisement or provide it to the candidate later, for example by email before the interview takes place. If additional pay conditions arise from a collective agreement, the employer must also provide the jobseeker with information about those conditions. Expected pay means the basic pay for the position, and the expected pay or salary range does not have to include additional payments unless they arise from a collective agreement. The salary information does not have to reach all applicants, but at least those jobseekers who have reached the interview stage. The information must be provided sufficiently in advance of the interview for the candidate to prepare for salary negotiations.

Employers must ensure equal pay for women and men for the same or work of equal value

Employers will in future be obliged to ensure equal pay for women and men for the same or work of equal value when agreeing pay. This means that different pay for men and women who perform the same or work of equal value is prohibited, unless there is an objective and gender-neutral reason. A reason for different pay may arise, for example, from performance or from a proven labour shortage in the position concerned that makes recruitment difficult. The sameness or equal value of work should be assessed from the perspective of the value of the work, taking into account the skills, effort, responsibility and working conditions required, and, where necessary, other criteria. However, the amendment does not impose on employers an obligation to carry out a job-value assessment or create a pay system.

Voluntary pay mirror service for employers

The amendments establish a legal basis for the pay mirror service, meaning employers’ access to gender pay-gap indicators. The pay mirror is a voluntary digital solution for monitoring a company’s pay gap, providing employers with an aggregated analysis based on data they have submitted to or confirmed for the state, thereby increasing employers’ awareness and supporting the development and implementation of fair pay systems. The analysis is carried out by Statistics Estonia. The pay mirror is therefore a service aimed at employers, and its use is voluntary. Employers can view the gender pay-gap indicators for their organisation prepared by Statistics Estonia through the working environment data collection database. Gender pay-gap indicators are not stored in the working environment data collection database.

Disproportionately personal questions may not be asked at an interview

The amendments introduce an explicit prohibition in the Employment Contracts Act on employers asking about previous pay when a person applies for a job. A jobseeker may, if they wish, talk about their income. Although the current law already prohibits asking about an employee’s private life, which also includes pay, the amendment sets this out separately in the Act so that it is unequivocally clear to everyone.

Employers may not prevent employees from disclosing their pay

The amendments entering into force provide that an employer may not prevent an employee from disclosing the amount of their pay. In future, an employer may not prevent an employee from disclosing the amount of their pay; this also unequivocally prohibits employment contract terms that prevent an employee from talking about their pay by referring to an obligation to protect trade secrets. Although employers are already prohibited from including contractual terms that restrict employees from talking about their own pay, the new amendment makes the rule unequivocally clear to everyone.

The Employment Contracts Act can be viewed here. The amendments will enter into force on 13 July 2026.

If you have any questions about the Employment Contracts Act, please contact us at juristid@koda.ee.