An average pay level under the EU Pay Transparency Directive is the average of the relevant workers' pay levels within the category used for comparison. The Directive defines a pay level as gross annual pay and the corresponding gross hourly pay. Under Article 7, a worker can request the average pay levels, broken down by sex, for the category of workers performing the same work as them or work of equal value. This is therefore not simply an organisation-wide average salary figure. The employer must first identify the legally relevant category of workers and then provide the comparative average information in a form that can be explained and, where necessary, clarified.
Jurisdiction: European Union
The Directive Starts With the Concept of a Pay Level
The phrase average pay level should be read together with Article 3 of Directive (EU) 2023/970. The Directive defines a pay level as gross annual pay and the corresponding gross hourly pay. It also defines pay broadly to include the ordinary basic or minimum wage or salary and other consideration received directly or indirectly from the employer in cash or in kind, including complementary or variable components. That matters because a worker information response should not automatically be reduced to base salary where other components form part of pay under the applicable framework. HR and compensation teams need a consistent data model that reflects the pay concepts used by the Directive.
Article 7 Uses Average Pay for a Specific Comparison Group
Article 7 does not ask an employer to provide a general company average to every worker. The comparative information is tied to categories of workers performing the same work as the requester or work of equal value to theirs. The employer therefore needs to identify the relevant category before calculating the average. If a company has very different roles, levels and responsibilities, combining them into one organisation-wide number can produce a figure that says little about the worker's actual equal-pay comparison. The legal usefulness of the average depends on the quality of the category used to produce it.
The Average Must Be Broken Down by Sex
The Article 7 entitlement is not only to a single combined average. The average pay levels must be broken down by sex for the relevant category of workers. This allows a worker to see whether there is a difference between the average pay level of female workers and the average pay level of male workers within the comparison group. The information can provide an indicator that deserves further explanation, but it is not by itself a legal finding that discrimination has occurred. Differences may require investigation into job value, pay criteria, experience, performance, seniority, allowances, working time or other objective factors that are relevant under the applicable law.
An Average Pay Level Is Not the Same as a Median Pay Level
The Directive distinguishes averages from medians. Article 3 separately defines the median pay level as the pay level at which half of workers earn more and half earn less. Article 7 specifically refers to average pay levels for the worker information right. Employers should therefore avoid substituting a median simply because it is less affected by unusually high or low values. Median measures are important elsewhere in the Directive's reporting framework, but the information right uses the average concept. Where national guidance specifies a calculation method, that method should be followed consistently and documented.
The Figure Should Reflect Relevant Pay Components
Because the Directive's concept of pay is broader than basic salary alone, employers need to determine which pay components belong in the pay-level calculation. Depending on the employment arrangement, relevant data can include fixed salary and complementary or variable remuneration that falls within the Directive's definition of pay. Payroll, HR information systems and compensation platforms may store those items separately, which can make a seemingly simple average more complex to reproduce. A defensible process should define the included components, data source, period and treatment of working time so the result can be checked later.
The Average Does Not Tell a Worker What They Must Be Paid
An average is comparative information, not an automatic salary entitlement. A worker who is below the average does not establish unequal pay merely from that fact, just as a worker above the average does not prove the pay system is lawful. The equal-pay analysis asks whether differences between people doing the same work or work of equal value can be justified by objective, gender-neutral criteria. The average helps expose patterns and questions that may need examination. It should therefore be presented with enough context for the worker to understand what was measured without converting the statistic into a promise about an individual pay outcome.
Employers Should Be Able to Reproduce the Average
A reliable Article 7 process should preserve enough evidence to recreate the number later. The response file should identify the worker category, the workers included, the pay components used, the relevant data period, the treatment of hourly and annual values and the resulting female and male averages. This is useful if the worker asks for clarification under Article 7 because the information appears incomplete or inaccurate. It also helps the employer show that the calculation was not improvised after the request arrived. A repeatable methodology is especially important where multiple HR, payroll and compensation systems contribute data.
National Implementation Can Add Calculation Detail
Directive (EU) 2023/970 creates the minimum EU framework, but Member States transpose it into national law. National rules or official guidance may specify calculation periods, treatment of particular pay components, rounding, reference dates, worker-counting practices or procedures for supplying the information. Employers should therefore avoid assuming that one internal calculation method is automatically correct in every Member State. A multinational organisation can maintain a common EU methodology while recording country-specific adjustments required by national implementation. The Article 7 response should be based on the rule applicable to the worker's jurisdiction.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is an average pay level the same as an average salary?
Not necessarily. The Directive uses its own concept of pay and defines pay level as gross annual pay and the corresponding gross hourly pay. Relevant pay can include more than basic salary.
Is the average calculated across the whole company?
Article 7 ties the comparative average to the relevant category of workers performing the same work or work of equal value, not automatically to the whole workforce.
Why are separate female and male averages required?
The sex-disaggregated averages allow a worker to see whether a pay difference appears within the relevant comparison category.
Does being below the average prove unequal pay?
No. The average is an indicator. A legal equal-pay analysis also considers whether any difference can be explained by objective, gender-neutral criteria.
Related Guides
Official Sources
Requirements and practices differ by jurisdiction and organisation. Check current local law, official guidance and professional advice for a specific situation.