Dutch pay transparency draft decree under consultation
Developments in pay transparency: definition of “pay” clarified in Dutch draft decree currently under consultation.
The key points in summary:
The core element is a broad concept of pay. It is not only about base salary, but also about additional and variable components. For reporting purposes, the starting point is the “wage for wage tax/national insurance contributions” as included in the payroll tax return. This wage is reduced by paid-out holiday allowance and paid-out employment benefit amounts, and then increased by the accrual of holiday allowance and employment benefit amounts. This prevents incidental payments (for example, a one‑off holiday allowance in May) from distorting the comparison. While this may look straightforward, in practice the fiscal wage concept is often complex (consider special bonuses, cafeteria plans, tax‑exempt allowances, the work‑related costs scheme, etc.). Any incorrect or inconsistent treatment can directly affect the gender pay gap reporting, which makes it sensible for employers to conduct a (tax) review of the payroll reporting chain and the gross pay definition now.
Additional or variable components include, among others, bonuses, overtime premiums, a thirteenth month, holiday allowance and other special remuneration. For reporting purposes, only taxable variable components that are taxed at the special rate are included. Tax‑exempt benefits, such as a company bicycle under the work‑related costs scheme, are excluded due to limited comparability and to reduce administrative burdens.
Employers with 100 or more employees will be subject to a reporting obligation on pay differences between women and men. Employers with 100 - 149 employees must report every three years, for the first time in 2031 over the year 2030. For employers with 150 - 249 employees, a three‑year reporting cycle also applies, but the first report will already be due in 2028 over 2027. Employers with 250 or more employees must report annually, also starting in 2028 over 2027.
The gender pay gap is calculated as the difference in average gross pay between women and men, expressed as a percentage of the average gross pay of men. This is done on an annual basis, per hour and specifically for additional or variable pay components. In addition, employees receive an individual right to information: on request, they can obtain their own gross pay and the average gross pay of colleagues in equivalent roles, broken down by gender.
The Netherlands Labour Authority will supervise compliance. Inspection results, both positive and negative, will be published on the Authority’s website for three years.
To avoid additional administrative burdens, the definition of pay and the methodology are aligned as much as possible with the existing payroll tax return chain. To support employers, guidance documents, templates and an e‑learning will be made available. The guidance document is already available; the draft pay reporting template is expected to be available for feedback before the summer of 2026, and the e‑learning is expected to be ready around 1 January 2027.
We are happy to discuss what this means for your organisation. Want to know more? Feel free to contact us.
