Your job ad needs a salary range
The European deadline was firm: the pay transparency directive had to be in national law by 7 June 2026. The Netherlands missed that date and is aiming for 1 January 2027, but in December 2025 the European Commission refused to accept the delay. A member state cannot move a directive deadline on its own, so the Dutch act may arrive sooner than 2027. For your job ads that means stating an amount or a range and being able to explain where it comes from. It also affects how you place a new colleague on the scale: any difference from someone doing the same work has to be justified with objective criteria.
Stage 1 · the vacancy and the interview
What you must tell candidates
Applicants must know the starting salary or pay scale before the conversation in which you discuss terms of employment. That may be in the job ad, but it may also come later in the process: you can meet first and name the amount only when terms come up. The law does not prescribe the moment, only that it cannot be later than that conversation. Conversely, you may no longer ask what someone currently earns: your offer must follow from the role and the profile, not from the salary at their previous employer.
This is what the salary benchmark is for: it gives you a range with steps and the sources behind it.
Stage 2 · the people already working there
What you must be able to justify internally
Differences between colleagues in the same role, or in work of equal value, must be justified with objective criteria such as relevant experience, education or demonstrable duties. Age and negotiating skill are not among them. Employees gain the right to ask what comparable colleagues earn on average, and an answer needs to be ready.
This is what the candidate check is for: it places an offer next to the colleagues already doing the work and produces a weighting table.
Why it already pays off
Job ads with a salary range rank better and are opened more often. Search engines and job boards show the salary field prominently; leave it empty and you stand out for the wrong reason.
No pay structure? Start with one role
You do not need a complete job architecture to start. One evidence-based range per vacancy, with steps and criteria, is already a defensible beginning. From there you grow into a pay structure.
We are not lawyers and this is not legal advice. We give you an evidence-based indication from public sources. For the legal side of your pay policy, consult a specialist.