Greece's Labor Ministry has taken a formal step toward closing the gender pay gap, receiving Tuesday a legislative committee report on equal pay and immediately opening consultations with employers and unions on a draft law.
Labor Minister Niki Kerameus accepted the report from law professor Patrina Paparrigopoulos, who chaired the drafting committee, in a ceremony attended by Labor Relations Secretary General Nikos Milapidis.
Mrs. Kerameus said the ministry is committed to ensuring that wages and benefits are determined by transparent, objective criteria based solely on job duties, responsibilities and individual performance.
She has since written to Greece's national social partners — employers' associations and trade unions — inviting them to a ministerial meeting on April 6 to discuss the committee's findings before the bill is finalized.
Mrs. Kerameus described the consultation as a critical step toward building a framework that meets both European standards and the needs of the Greek economy.
The legislation is designed to transpose EU Directive 2023/970 into Greek law.
The directive requires equal pay for equal work regardless of gender and introduces binding transparency rules at three stages: during job advertising and recruitment, throughout the employment relationship — including employees' right to access salary data — and through a mandatory obligation on companies to publish pay information.
Greece joins a broader European effort to implement the directive ahead of the EU's enforcement deadline, with the April 6 talks expected to shape the final contours of the bill.