Wage transparency: the SDI calls for proportionate obligations for very small businesses

The draft law on salary transparency opens a new stage in the transposition into French law of the European directive adopted in 2023. The text should strengthen the information provided to candidates and employees on remuneration, while facilitating the identification of salary gaps between women and men.

During its presentation to the Council of Ministers, the Union of Independent Businesses and Very Small Businesses (SDI) reaffirmed its support for the objective of equal pay. The employers' organization nevertheless called on the Government to adapt the implementation methods to the human and administrative resources of very small businesses.

Very small businesses exempt from European reporting, but nevertheless affected

The European directive does not impose periodic reporting obligations on pay gaps for companies with fewer than 100 employees. However, smaller organizations will be affected by several provisions, including the requirement to provide information on salary levels or ranges during the recruitment process and the right of employees to obtain certain salary-related data.

The final scope of the obligations applicable in France will, however, depend on the text adopted by Parliament and its future implementing decrees. The draft law presented to the Council of Ministers therefore does not yet constitute the definitive regulatory framework.

“Equal pay is an objective we share. But we shouldn't impose mechanisms designed for companies with HR and legal departments on very small businesses in the name of a legitimate principle. We therefore ask the government to make proportionality a central principle of the French implementation. The issue is simple: to guarantee employees greater transparency regarding compensation without turning this progress into an additional administrative burden for managers who already handle a large part of their company's HR, legal, and administrative functions alone. The success of this reform will be measured less by the number of new obligations created than by its ability to bring greater transparency without further increasing the daily workload of very small businesses,” says Marc Sanchez, Secretary General of the SDI.

Remuneration rarely governed by formalized pay scales

For the SDI, the main point of concern lies in the practical implementation of the reform. Unlike companies with a human resources department, very small businesses do not always rely on detailed salary scales or formalized job evaluation processes.

Compensation can vary depending on factors such as seniority, versatility, level of autonomy, actual responsibilities, and the company's financial situation. According to the union, these differences can be based on objective criteria, but remain difficult to translate into standardized procedures.

Comparing employees in the same job can also be tricky in structures with few employees, where tasks are often more diverse and evolving.

A demand for clear and directly applicable rules

The SDI calls for implementing regulations to limit the formalities and justification requirements imposed on managers of very small businesses. The organization advocates for rules that are understandable and directly applicable, without requiring the systematic intervention of a legal department or external consultant.

This request relates in particular to how to present salary ranges during recruitment, how to respond to employee requests for information and how to justify salary differences based on objective criteria.

The union believes that the reform should be assessed in terms of its ability to improve pay transparency and reduce inequalities, without creating a disproportionate administrative burden for less structured companies.