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Guide

Pay transparency for agency recruiters: what changes in the brief, the advert and the call

The EU Pay Transparency Directive is written for employers. But the part about recruitment lands on your desk: you write the advert, make the first approach, run the screening call and send the client a profile. If the range is missing, or your call sheet still asks "what are you on now?", it happens with your name on it.

This guide covers what is settled, what is still open in Germany and Austria, and what you can change now if you recruit for clients in the EU. For how to answer the salary question itself, see the guide on salary questions. None of this is legal advice.

Where things stand in October 2026

Directive (EU) 2023/970 had to be in national law by 7 June 2026. Germany missed the deadline. A government commission handed in its report on a low-bureaucracy version on 7 November 2025, and the ministry aimed to start the legislative process in early 2026. On 8 July 2026 the federal government said the groundwork for a bill was done and some questions were still being settled. In September 2026 an opposition party tabled a motion asking the government to produce one. As of 20 October 2026 we found no published draft bill.

Until then Germany's 2017 Pay Transparency Act applies. It gives employees a right to information, but doesn't require a range for applicants before the interview.

Austria has had a rule for years: under § 9(2) of its Equal Treatment Act, employers and private recruitment agencies must state the collectively agreed minimum pay in a job advert and say if they are willing to pay more. A first breach gets a warning, repeat breaches a fine of up to 360 euros (§ 10(2)).

The UK left the EU before the directive, so it doesn't apply to roles in the UK. If your client hires in Germany, Ireland or any other member state, it applies to those roles wherever you sit.

What the directive asks for during recruitment

Article 5 is the one that matters for agency work:

  • Pay information before the interview. Applicants are entitled to know the starting pay or its range, based on objective, gender-neutral criteria. It can go in the advert, come before the interview or arrive another way, as long as it allows an informed negotiation.
  • No questions about pay history. Employers may not ask applicants what they earn or earned in current or previous jobs.
  • Neutral adverts. Job adverts and titles have to be gender-neutral, and the process non-discriminatory.

Your clients have internal duties too: making pay and progression criteria available (Article 6), answering staff requests for pay information (Article 7) and reporting on the gender pay gap, starting with employers of 150 or more on 7 June 2027 (Article 9). For you, the upshot is that a client who takes this seriously wants a range it can explain later.

Salary range in the brief: what you need from the client

Most range problems start with a brief that doesn't have one. At intake, ask for:

  • the range as gross annual pay, with base and bonus split out,
  • the criteria that put someone at the top or bottom of it,
  • any collective agreement that applies,
  • sign-off to use the range in the advert and the first approach.
Template 1: asking the client for the range
Hi [first name], Thanks for the [role] brief. Before I start approaching people, could you send me the salary range as gross annual pay, base and bonus separately, and two or three things that decide where someone lands in it, say [example: team leadership, a specific certification]? Can I quote the range in the advert and on first contact? Candidates ask straight away, and under the EU pay transparency rules it will have to come before the interview anyway. Thanks, [Your name]

Salary range in the advert and the first message

A range in the advert saves you calls with people who are miles off. In Austria the minimum is mandatory; for German roles it's worth writing adverts that way now. Keep the job title neutral; "(m/f/d)" is standard in German adverts.

On a headhunt, the range belongs in the first or second message, not the third call.

Template 2: first approach with the range
Hi [first name], I'm recruiting a [role] for [client or description] and your work on [area] stood out. So you can judge straight away whether it's worth a chat: the range is [X] to [Y] gross a year plus [bonus], depending mostly on [criterion]. Would you have 15 minutes this week for a confidential call? Best wishes, [Your name]

The screening call: expectations, not salary history

The ban on asking about pay history is aimed at the employer. If you ask on their behalf and put the answer in the profile, it reaches the client all the same. Swap "what are you on now?" for "what would an offer need to include for a move to make sense?" The profile then shows the expectation, not the current salary. There is a sample in the candidate profile template.

If the client asks anyway, a short, friendly reply does the job.

Template 3: the client asks for current salary
Hi [first name], I don't ask candidates for their current salary, and I'd suggest leaving it out of the interview too: the EU directive bars employers from asking, and Germany still has to write it into national law. [Candidate] is looking for [amount] gross a year, which sits [inside / above / below] your range. Thanks, [Your name]

When the candidate asks how the range works

Once there's a range, the next question is "why the lower end?" Answer with the criteria from the brief, not a feeling. That's the reason to get them written down at intake.

Template 4: explaining where they'd land
Hi [first name], Good question. [Client] places people in the [X] to [Y] range by [criterion 1] and [criterion 2]. You're strong on [criterion 1], lighter on [criterion 2] than they're after, so I'd expect something around [amount]. That's my read; the offer comes from the client. Speak soon, [Your name]

Mistakes to avoid

  • Waiting for the German act. Article 5 is clear enough to change your brief, adverts and call sheet today.
  • A range with no criteria. You'll have nothing to say when a candidate asks where they'd land.
  • Current salary in the profile. It hands the client the answer to a question it isn't supposed to ask.
  • "Competitive salary" on an Austrian advert. Section 9 of the Equal Treatment Act wants the minimum figure.

More templates on pay, notice periods and hybrid working are in the template library.

With LetterForge

LetterForge knows the range and your notes on the role, and drafts replies like these from your thread with that one candidate. You read the draft, change what you want and send it from your own mail app. The demo shows how it looks. The app is coming soon: see pricing, join the waitlist, or read how LetterForge relates to the AI Act.

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FAQ

Does the Pay Transparency Directive already apply in Germany?
The deadline passed on 7 June 2026, and Germany had no implementing act on 20 October 2026. Until it does, the 2017 Pay Transparency Act applies. Whether applicants can rely on the directive before then is disputed.
Do agency recruiters have to state the salary range?
The duty in the directive is on the employer. Because you advertise and screen on the client's behalf, quote the range once the client signs it off. In Austria, § 9(2) of the Equal Treatment Act also names private recruitment agencies.
Does the directive apply to UK recruiters?
Not to roles in the UK. It applies to roles in EU member states, including those you fill from the UK.
When do employers have to report on the gender pay gap?
Under Article 9, employers with 150 or more staff from 7 June 2027, those with 100 to 149 from 7 June 2031. How Germany implements this is still open.

Sources

  1. Directive (EU) 2023/970 of 10 May 2023 (Pay Transparency Directive), OJ L 132, 17.5.2023, Articles 5, 6, 7, 9 and 34. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32023L0970 (accessed 20 Oct 2026)
  2. German Federal Ministry for Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, press release of 7 Nov 2025 on the final report of the commission on implementing the directive (German). https://www.bmbfsfj.bund.de/bmbfsfj/aktuelles/pressemitteilungen/abschlussbericht-der-kommission-buerokratiearme-umsetzung-der-entgelttransparenzrichtlinie--274262 (accessed 20 Oct 2026)
  3. German Bundestag, Drucksache 21/7026 of 8 July 2026, federal government's answer to minor interpellation 21/6608 (German). https://dserver.bundestag.de/btd/21/070/2107026.pdf (accessed 20 Oct 2026)
  4. German Bundestag, Drucksache 21/7916 of 8 Sept 2026, motion by Die Linke on implementing the directive (German). https://dserver.bundestag.de/btd/21/079/2107916.pdf (accessed 20 Oct 2026)
  5. Germany, Entgelttransparenzgesetz (Pay Transparency Act) of 30 June 2017. https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/entgtranspg/ (accessed 20 Oct 2026)
  6. Austria, Gleichbehandlungsgesetz (Equal Treatment Act), § 9(2) and § 10(2). https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/NormDokument.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=20003395&Paragraf=9 (accessed 20 Oct 2026)

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