Pay transparency rules in Hungary
No. As of 30 June 2026, Hungary has not passed a law to bring in the EU Pay Transparency Directive, and no draft bill has been published. Hungary missed the EU's 7 June 2026 deadline. The rules below are the EU Directive's own requirements, which is what Hungary's eventual law must deliver. Until Hungary legislates, the exact national thresholds, cadence and penalties are not fixed, so treat the figures as the Directive's defaults and prepare on that basis.
The EU Pay Transparency Directive (Directive (EU) 2023/970) is an EU-wide law designed to close the gender pay gap by making pay more open. It gives job applicants the right to know the pay or pay range before interview, bans employers from asking about pay history, lets employees ask for their own pay and the average pay of others doing equal work broken down by sex, and makes larger employers report their gender pay gap. Where an unjustified gap of at least 5% shows up, the employer must run a joint pay assessment with worker representatives. Every EU country had to write these rules into its own national law by 7 June 2026. Hungary has not yet done so: there is no Hungarian transposing law and no published draft, so the Directive's standards apply as the template Hungary's future legislation is expected to follow.
Where Hungary stands right now
Hungary has not transposed the Directive and has no published draft, so nothing is legally in force yet.
As of 30 June 2026, Hungary has not passed a national law to implement the EU Pay Transparency Directive, and no draft bill or Labour Code amendment has been made public. The EU deadline was 7 June 2026, which Hungary has missed. Hungarian and international law firms describe the position as a pre-draft consultation stage: professional consultations are reportedly under way, but the detailed national rules, including the reporting threshold, reporting frequency, supervisory bodies and penalty levels, are not yet known. Because no Hungarian instrument exists, the requirements below are the EU Directive's own standards. They are the template Hungary's eventual law must meet, but the exact national wording, thresholds and sanctions could differ once a bill is published and adopted.
What changes for an employer once Hungary legislates
More open pay: ranges shared before interview, no salary-history questions, employee pay-information rights, and gender pay-gap reporting for larger employers.
When Hungary transposes the Directive, employers will need to: publish a pay level or pay range for a role before the interview, either in the job advert or beforehand; stop asking candidates about their current or previous pay; respond to employee requests for their own pay level and the average pay of colleagues doing the same job or work of equal value, broken down by sex; and, for larger employers, report their gender pay gap to the authorities. Pay structures must be based on objective, gender-neutral criteria. In practice this means reviewing job grading, documenting how pay is set, and building a process to answer pay-information requests, typically within two months of a request under the Directive.
Pay-gap reporting and the joint pay assessment
The Directive requires gap reporting for employers with 100+ staff, with the first reports in 2027, and a joint pay assessment where an unjustified gap of 5% or more appears.
Under the Directive, employers with 250 or more employees report their gender pay gap annually; those with 150-249 and 100-149 employees report every three years. The first reports are due by 7 June 2027 for employers with 150 or more staff, and by 7 June 2031 for those with 100-149. Employers under 100 have no reporting duty under the Directive, though Hungary could set a lower threshold. If a report shows a gender pay gap of at least 5% in a category of workers that cannot be justified on objective, gender-neutral grounds and is not fixed within six months, the employer must carry out a joint pay assessment together with worker representatives. All of these figures are the Directive's defaults; Hungary's final numbers are not yet confirmed.
How it works with an Employer of Record
Teamed as the EOR is the legal employer, so once Hungary legislates these duties sit with Teamed, working alongside the client on pay decisions.
If you engage staff in Hungary through Teamed as Employer of Record, Teamed is the legal employer on record. That means the statutory duties the new law will create, such as showing a pay range before interview, not asking for pay history, answering employee pay-information requests, and any reporting obligation, fall to Teamed as the employer. Because the client typically sets the actual pay and role, this works as a partnership: the client provides the pay range and the objective, gender-neutral basis for it, and Teamed handles the compliant job-advert wording, the candidate process, and any statutory reporting once Hungarian rules exist. Since Hungary has not yet transposed, there is nothing to file today, but Teamed will adopt the duties on your behalf as soon as the national law takes effect.
At a glance
| Pay shown in job ads | Proposed |
|---|---|
| Salary-history question banned | Proposed |
| Gender pay-gap reporting from | Proposed (Directive: 100+) |
| First report due | Not yet (Directive: 2027) |
| Penalties | Unknown |
Key figures
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Transposition status | Not transposed; no draft bill published (source) |
| EU transposition deadline | 7 June 2026 (missed by Hungary) (source) |
| National instrument | None enacted; Labour Code (Mt.) amendment expected (source) |
| Reporting threshold (Directive) | Employers with 100+ employees (source) |
| First report due (Directive) | By 7 June 2027 for 150+ employees; 7 June 2031 for 100-149 (source) |
| Joint pay assessment trigger (Directive) | Unjustified gender pay gap of at least 5% not corrected within 6 months (source) |
| Penalties under Hungarian law | Not yet defined (no national law) (source) |
Frequently asked questions
Is the EU Pay Transparency Directive in force in Hungary?
No. As of 30 June 2026, Hungary has not passed a national law to implement the Directive and no draft bill has been published. Hungary missed the EU's 7 June 2026 transposition deadline.
Do I have to put salary ranges in Hungarian job ads now?
Not yet as a Hungarian legal requirement, because no national law is in force. The Directive requires a pay level or range to be shared before interview, so this is coming, but it is not enforceable in Hungary until Hungary legislates.
When will gender pay-gap reporting start in Hungary?
The Directive sets the first reports for employers with 150 or more staff at 7 June 2027, and 7 June 2031 for 100-149. Hungary has not yet confirmed its own thresholds or dates, so treat these as the EU defaults pending national law.
What are the penalties for non-compliance in Hungary?
Unknown. The Directive requires effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties, but the actual fines and sanctions will only be set when Hungary adopts its transposing legislation. None are defined yet.
If I hire in Hungary through an Employer of Record, who is responsible?
Teamed, as the legal employer of record, will carry the statutory pay-transparency duties once Hungary's law is in force. The client supplies the pay range and its objective basis; Teamed handles compliant adverts, the hiring process and any required reporting.
Pay transparency is moving at different speeds across the EU. When Teamed is your legal employer in Hungary, these duties sit with us: compliant pay ranges, the salary-history rule, employee pay-information requests, and reporting where it applies. We track the law as it changes so your hiring stays compliant.
