Theoretically, the provisions of EU directives on remuneration transparency or women in the management boards of companies could already be applied in Poland, but we have time to implement them until mid -2026. It is not visible that this was an important topic on the Polish political scene and in the parliamentary debate. It is enough to mention that the draft act introducing to the Polish legal order the provisions of the directive on wage transparency were reported in the Sejm by a group of MPs of the Civic Coalition, not the government, although he is responsible for the implementation of EU law. In turn, the project of the Ministry of Justice regarding the increase in the participation of women in the management boards of companies at one of the recent meetings of the government was sent to corrections.
According to Dr. Ewa Rumińska-Zimny, vice president of the Board of the Women’s Congress, It is necessary to adopt as soon as possible..
– Unfortunately, you can’t see the acceleration, everything goes slow, too slowly – comments a representative of the Congress of Women.
The same wages? Not quite …
Women’s earnings in the European Union are currently on average by 12 percent. lower than men in the same positions. In Poland, the pay gap – interestingly – is smaller than the EU average, because it is 7.8 percent. According to Eurostat, we are in 9th place among countries with the slightest salary difference between women and men. Luxembourg is the only country where women earn more than men.
Experts reserve that this data must be treated with a little reserve. Smaller differences in salaries may result from fewer women in important positions. In addition, EU statistics do not include small companies and sole proprietorships.
The widespread, but incorrect opinion about the EU directive on wage transparency is that it will guarantee women the same money for the same work performed by men. Meanwhile, under new regulations, only mechanisms will appear to catch wage discrimination and show the so -called wage gap, and only then force it to reduce it. It is all about the payroll in the company to be clear and transparent. The earnings of others will still not be public, but everyone will be able to receive information from the employer with medium salaries for the work they do. Also divided into gender. And if someone decides to disclose their earnings to enforce the principle of equality of salaries, the employer will not be able to prohibit it.
Under EU provisions, employers will be required to ensure, In order for recruitment and position names to be neutral in gender, and the recruitment processes did not bear the signs of discrimination. Employees will have easy access to the criteria, on the basis of which the levels (forks) of wages and increases are determined. They will also be informed (every year) about the right to demand and receive information in writing about their individual salary and average salary divided into the gender of colleagues doing the same job or work of the same value.
Employers will also be obliged to provide information on differences in wages of women and men and the percentage of female and male employees receiving additional or variable components of remuneration (this requirement will be gradually introduced from June 7, 2027 for employers employing over 100 employees, depending on the size of the company). And if remuneration reports reveal the difference in wages of men and women exceeding 5 percent, which cannot be justified by objective criteria independent of gender, this will need to be eliminated within 6 months.
In the Sejm there is already a parliamentary project implementing these regulations to the Labor Code.
-It is a bit strange, because it should be a government-reserves Małgorzata Miszkin-Wojciechowska, an expert in the confederation of Lewiatan employers. – The parliamentary project means a lack of broad public consultations, and such important changes for entrepreneurs should not be made without consulting them – emphasizes the representative of Lewiatana. In her opinion, the barrier to implementing new regulations may be concerns about the disclosure of the amount of earnings.
According to Ewa Rumińska-Zimny, in addition to reluctance to disclose wage information, the reason for the delay in the implementation of the EU directive on wage transparency is the question of whether and how to punish companies for pay gaps. The expert project of the Women’s Congress assumes that at least in the first stage there will be no such penalties. The left had a project to impose these penalties right away.
-Stereotypes are also strong, because many men still think that women in the same positions can earn less, because they devote more time to children-adds Dr. Rumińska-Zimny.
The expert project of the Women’s Congress also contains the method of calculating the wage gap, taking into account all the components of remuneration. According to Dr. Rumińska-Zimny, it is a project that should become the basis for further work of the government and parliament, just adding regulations to the Labor Code is not enough, because it does not take into account all aspects of the fight against the pay gap, in this method of calculating it.
More women in managerial positions
The mechanisms that are to ensure equal wages for the same work of women and men are one thing. But you still need to provide women with access to the same work that men do. Especially when it comes to employment in managerial positions. The EU Directive on Women in Management Boards will force about 40 percent stock market companies, so that women constitute at least one third of the management. And this condition large entities must meet in the middle of next year.
– For now, we are far from this and not much has changed in this matter for a few years -says Małgorzata Miszkin-Wojciechowska.
It reminds that in 2020 women constituted about 15 percent. In the compositions of the management boards of State Treasury, in 2023 we had about 16 percent. It is slightly better in the case of supervisory boards – there women’s participation increased from 23.9 percent. in 2020 to 28 percent In 2023, the latest 30% Club Poland report shows that the participation of women in the boards and supervisory boards of 140 largest companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in 2024 was 18.4 percent. But in every fifth such company there is not a single woman in the authorities.
– I get the impression that in this case we are dealing with actions only so that something in the papers is correct, but a diametrical change in the approach to women in the authorities of the companies cannot be seen -says Ewa Rumińska-Zimny. Małgorzata Miszkin-Wojciechowska also points out that it is more important that more women are in boards, and not just the supervisory boards of companies, because the management boards make decisions affecting the activities of companies.
The EU directive allows women’s participation in the company’s authorities together (in boards and supervisory boards), so you could give you more places in supervisory boards, and less in boards. The first version of the project implementing the directive not only assumed counting the indicators separately, but also determined the share of women at 40 percent. There was no consent in the government and the project is corrected. But the Minister of State Asset declared that from January 2026, the Standards of the EU directive for women’s positions will be met in state -owned companies, even if there is no law in this matter.
-This is an optimistic signal-says Ewa Rumińska-Zimny. But he reserves that not only changes in regulations are needed, but also mental changes. And it reminds that not so long ago there were signals from the Warsaw stock exchange that the Polish economy, Polish companies are not ready for a larger number of women in boards for cultural and historical reasons.
Changes not too fast
-We need a separate act on equality-says Małgorzata Miszkin-Wojciechowska. – We need not only regulations about wages and staffing of positions, but also to solve the issue of feminist. Does the Labor Code or the provisions of companies mention the President? There is always talk about the appointment of the president, the tasks of the president, and this imposes a bit of thinking that the man should head the company, because he is the president, not the president – adds a representative of the confederation of Lewiatan employers.
As it is difficult for mental changes, in practice it shows the use of another EU directive – to support the balance between professional and private life for working parents and guardians. It is thanks to her that we have parental leave and paternity leave in Poland, thanks to which women can return to work faster after the birth of a child. The number of fathers taking off at work to look after their little comfort, grows quickly, but it is still women who bear the main burden of caring for a newborn baby. The latest data of the Social Insurance Institution and the Share The Care Foundation shows that in 2024 41.9 thousand have already benefited from parental leave. Fathers. This is twice as much as a year earlier and eleven times more than in 2022. Optimism can cool down the fact that only 17 percent He takes his fathers free to look after the newborn and uses 7 weeks when it could 9.
Sylwia Ziemnacka from the board of the Share The Care Foundation believes that data on paternity leave shows that the EU directives are in practice.
– Fathers could take such holidays a long time ago, but only 1 percent did before the EU directive. men – reminds. In her opinion, the fact that the gentlemen still do not take parental holidays are determined by financial inequalities. It is enough to state that in 2024 the average amount of the benefit paid for the parental leave of fathers was PLN 167 a day, while for mothers it was PLN 124. This is another proof that women earn less than men, even at the beginning of their professional career. © ℗
Grzegorz Skowron (GEG Information Agency)
The European dimension has a problem
Despite the growing diversity, women still constitute a minority in the company’s bodies, and many of them simply do not have them. And we are talking here not only about Poland, but about all of Europe
The women’s professional activity indicator in Europe is gradually growing, approaching the level of men’s activity. However, this does not go hand in hand with participation in the company’s bodies. Women are still a minority in the management boards of enterprises on the Old Continent – according to the Grape report, an independent, non -governmental center run by Fame, Foundation for Adepts and Economics Lovers. It was developed on the basis of a diversity data set in the Gender Council (Gender Diversity DateSet), which is based on a sample of over 28 million companies from 43 European countries and contains information on almost 59 million people sitting on boards and supervisory boards.
It shows that the average share of women in the company’s bodies depending on the industry ranges from 10 to 30 percent. Poland is part of this trend. In our country, depending on the industry, from 36 to even 78.5 percent. companies are not reported by women on the board or the supervisory board.
The authors of the report indicate that this situation prompted several countries to introduce sex parities for some companies. An example is Norway, where large and medium -sized companies must guarantee that both women and men will constitute at least 40 percent. board members.
GBDD also shows industry diversity. In the IT sector, the average share of women in the company’s bodies is about 16 percent, while in the education, health and care sector – 35 percent Hence the conclusion that political strategies implemented at industry level may be more useful for the problem of unevenness and barrier removal.
The authors of the report also pay attention to how the variety of sex in boards has changed over time. In the 1990s, there was an increase, in the next decade stagnation, then, from 2010, an upward trend appeared again.
Read more in addition DGP Women in business
