Pay transparency regulations came into force at the end of 2025. Under the new rules, employers are obliged, among other things, to inform candidates about the salary or salary range no later than before signing the employment contract. A month after the formal introduction of these new regulations, are any changes visible? What comes next?
“Employers have until June 7, 2026, to fully adapt to the new regulations. Many companies are just now organizing their approach to compensation and working on implementing appropriate procedures. For some employers, this means having to scrutinize existing pay systems, which were often created intuitively over the years, without clearly described rules or consistent criteria. This is a crucial stage because pay transparency should not be a hasty or purely formal action. Its point lies not in the mere ‘revealing of numbers,’ but in organizing the logic of remuneration so that it is durable, consistent, and builds trust in the labor market,” comments Magda Pietkiewicz, labor market expert and creator of Enpulse, a platform for researching and building employee engagement.
Through the Companies’ Eyes
Pay transparency is keeping many employers up at night. They fear, above all, an increase in wage pressure and the necessity to adjust salaries to market levels. Almost 40 percent of companies fear this scenario, according to a study conducted for the Lewiatan Confederation. The Enpulse expert explains why.
“First, pay transparency will reveal internal wage gaps. In many organizations, for years, employees with long tenure earned less than new hires in the same positions. Additionally, very often, especially in managerial positions, women earned less than men. Until now, this was a silent problem. Now the problem will become visible, and sooner or later, it must be faced. For firms, this implies the necessity of conversations, explaining past decisions, and in many cases, salary corrections,” emphasizes Magda Pietkiewicz.
“Second, market comparisons will become everyday life. No one can ban discussions about salaries, and employees will exchange information—both inside and outside the company. Just one chat with a colleague from a competitor company is enough to trigger the question: ‘Why is my salary lower?’ This won’t be a rebellion, but a natural reaction. Employee wage expectations will gain context and become harder to ignore,” adds the expert.
“Third, under the new regulations, once a year an employee will be able to request written information from the employer about the salary ranges in the company. Thanks to this, they will find out if their salary is in the lower, middle, or upper part of the band. It’s a bit like a percentile grid—we know if we are close to the average, at the bottom, or at the top. This can become a pretext for a conversation about a raise,” highlights Magda Pietkiewicz.
“All this can trigger a domino effect in the form of a wave of raises, for which not every organization will be financially prepared. For many companies, this would mean a sudden spike in labor costs, pressure on budgets, and difficult management decisions. The consequence could even be a freeze on investments, limited recruitment, or slowed development,” concludes the expert.
The Mythical Salary Ranges
For many people, pay transparency boils down solely to salary ranges listed in job advertisements. This is, however, a major oversimplification. Ranges are just one element of transparency, yet they often become its most problematic point. It is on them that all attention focuses, even though on their own they resolve neither the issue of pay fairness nor the transparency of pay principles within the company.
“The mere presence of salary ranges does not yet mean transparency. Overly wide ranges, where differences for a single position reach several thousand zlotys, are in practice illusory transparency—they look good on paper but give the candidate no real information. The sense of transparency is for the employee to know which bracket they are in and what must happen for their salary to grow: be it a promotion, competency development, or further training. Companies that have these mechanisms clearly described in their compensation policies will cope without major problems. It will be harder for organizations that treat ranges merely as a way to scout the market while retaining maximum discretion in setting wages,” says Magda Pietkiewicz.
“Introducing ranges also carries less obvious consequences, including limited negotiation flexibility. If a candidate is an outstanding specialist and knows they are worth more than the upper limit of the range, the employer must have the ability to formally justify a higher salary. Without this, even good will is not enough to hire someone. On the other hand, some candidates may drop out at the ad stage, deeming the ranges too low. Ultimately, salary ranges cease to be mythical only when they are backed by consistent, well-thought-out rules, and not just numbers entered for the sake of an ad,” adds the expert.
New Rules of the Game
Pay transparency is not a one-time obligation nor a simple communication change. It is a process that requires time, reflection, and sorting out the foundations. This includes building regulations, standardizing rules, and creating transparent communication around remuneration. It also requires navigating the natural consequences of transparency, such as greater pressure for consistency and the flattening of unjustified pay differences. In the long run, however, pay transparency acts as a stabilizer: it strengthens trust, limits conflicts, and fosters the building of fairer compensation structures.
“The coming months will be a moment when many organizations truly look at the logic of their pay systems. Questions will arise about the sources of differences in remuneration and the criteria behind them, and conversations about pay equity will become a natural element of dialogue in companies,” says Magda Pietkiewicz. “In such a reality, it will be harder to compete solely on salary height. Other elements will gain importance: management style, the approach to building employee engagement, a culture of appreciation, and a sense of purpose and agency in daily work. It is precisely these areas that may become the real source of competitive advantage for employers in the coming years,” emphasizes Magda Pietkiewicz from Enpulse.
