Aon released the results of the Pay Transparency Study 2025which show that 86% of companies in Portugal are not yet prepared to comply with the European Pay Transparency Directive, to be transposed into national legislation by June 2026.
It is percentage is in line with the European average (87%) and slightly above the global average (81%).
O study revealed that only 14% of organizations in Portugal claim to be ready, a situation similar to the European one (13%) and lower than the global one (19%). Furthermore, 58% of national companies are still in the preparation phase, compared to 63% in Europe and 58% worldwide.
Joana Brito, HR Solutions Senior Consultant at Aon Portugal, says that “the European Pay Transparency Directive represents a profound structural change in the labor market. The vast majority of companies still do not have consolidated processes and many adopt a reactive rather than proactive approach.”
Regarding pay equity, only 18% of organizations in Portugal carried out an independent assessment in the last 12 to 18 months, below the European (24%) and global (26%) average.. The study also indicated that 70% of companies identified inequalities that require intervention.
In terms of communication, only 22% of organizations in Portugal have developed a specific strategy for salary transparency, and 78% still do not have a formal approach.
Joana Brito warns that “salary transparency represents a profound change and the way it is communicated is absolutely decisive in generating trust.”
The European directive will require companies to report pay gaps between men and women from 2027, which makes it urgent to build solid structures that ensure not only legal compliance, but also the credibility of organizations before employees and society.
The Aon study had 1,427 responses globally, including 51 from Portugal, and evaluated the salary transparency strategy, equity and communication/governance.