Financial Services Union calls for full implementation of the EU Pay Transparency Directive

19 March 2026

A generational opportunity to reshape how pay is structured, monitored, and enforced says FSU

The Financial Services Union (FSU) have called for a full transposition of the EU Pay Transparency Directive which would include national legislation that not only builds upon the directive but strengthens it in a number of areas.

Speaking on the FSU motion at the ICTU National Women’s Conference, Caitleen Desetti, Industrial Relations Organiser with the Financial Services Union said:

“Pay inequality is not an abstract issue. It is a lived, daily reality. The gender pay gap remains embedded in organisational structures, in promotion pathways, in starting salaries, and in all the subtle and not‑so‑subtle ways women’s work continues to be undervalued. The data is unambiguous: soft, employer-led initiatives are nowhere near enough to close the gap.

The EU Pay Transparency Directive presents an opportunity to try to strengthen the workers’ hand where it comes to equal pay and equal pay claims. It lays the groundwork, but we need national legislation that builds upon the Directive and strengthens it. Minimum transposition will not deliver equality. If Ireland simply ticks the legal boxes, we will miss a generational opportunity to reshape how pay is structured, monitored, and enforced.

We require measures that go above and beyond the Directive because workers in Ireland deserve more than the minimum. The Directive requires joint assessments in some circumstances, but it should guarantee meaningful worker participation, it should require employer-funded training, it should mandate strict timelines, and it should  hold sectors collectively accountable when systemic inequality is exposed.

The Pay Transparency Directive should not become just a compliance exercise, but a catalyst for real, measurable change for women workers in Ireland.”

ENDS

Motion 12. Equal Pay

That ICTU commits to advocating with the Irish Government and employer representative bodies to ensure that the national transposition of the EU Pay Transparency Directive includes:

  1. A mandatory requirement that where an employer reports a gender pay gap exceeding 5% in any category of worker, and where this gap cannot be justified by objective, gender-neutral factors and is not remedied within six months, the employer be legally required to co-develop—together with a recognised trade union, or where no union is present in the sector, an elected employee representative group—a comprehensive joint pay assessment and joint action plan designed to close the gap.
  2. A requirement that any employer subject to joint assessment must fully fund and deliver training for employee or trade union representatives prior to commencement of the joint pay assessment to ensure effective participation in the assessment and subsequent joint action plan negotiations.
    1. A requirement that every joint action plan includes: Specific, measurable, and time-bound targets for closing the gender pay gap
    2. Joint monitoring and review mechanisms agreed with employee representatives
    3. Mandatory public reporting of progress against targets, ensuring transparency and accountability to employees and the wider public
  1. A requirement that the joint pay assessment and joint action plan be published no later than 9 months after the original gender pay gap report.
  2. A requirement that in any sector where more than one-third of employers reports a gender pay gap exceeding 5% in any category of worker that cannot be justified by objective, gender-neutral factors and is not remedied within six months, employer representative bodies must be legally obliged to:
    1. Provide sector-wide support, including model frameworks for joint assessments and action plans
    2. Implement sectoral capacity-building measures for employee representatives, including resources to strengthen trade union representation
  1. That ICTU commits to providing training and support for trade union officials and elected representatives in best practice for conducting joint pay assessments and co-developing effective joint action plans aimed at closing the gender pay gap