{"id":21734,"date":"2026-09-15T05:07:58","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T03:07:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cognitis.cloud\/uncategorized\/europe-hr-compliance-pulse-weekly-15-september-2026\/"},"modified":"2026-09-15T05:08:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T03:08:09","slug":"europe-hr-compliance-pulse-weekly-15-september-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cognitis.cloud\/bg\/pulse\/europe-hr-compliance-pulse-weekly-15-september-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"\u0411\u044e\u043b\u0435\u0442\u0438\u043d \u0437\u0430 HR \u0441\u044a\u043e\u0442\u0432\u0435\u0442\u0441\u0442\u0432\u0438\u0435 \u0432 \u0415\u0432\u0440\u043e\u043f\u0430: 15 \u0441\u0435\u043f\u0442\u0435\u043c\u0432\u0440\u0438 2026 \u0433."},"content":{"rendered":"

A weekly briefing on European HR, labour law and compliance developments for SME HR teams across the EU, UK, Switzerland and the Nordics.<\/em><\/p>\n

Top story: pay transparency stalls across Europe as most member states miss the deadline<\/h2>\n

Three months after the 7 June 2026 transposition deadline, only five of the EU’s 27 member states have fully implemented the Pay Transparency Directive (2023\/970) into national law. Slovakia, Italy, Lithuania and Malta met the deadline. Greece followed in early July. The remaining 22 countries are at various stages of drafting, consulting or, in some cases, barely started.<\/p>\n

The directive requires employers to disclose salary ranges in job postings, bans questions about candidates’ pay history, gives employees the right to request pay information for comparable roles and obliges companies with 100 or more employees to report on their gender pay gap. For SMEs with fewer than 100 employees, many of the reporting obligations do not apply directly, but the recruitment transparency and individual information rights do.<\/p>\n

Two developments in the past fortnight signal that progress is accelerating in C2’s core markets, even if deadlines have slipped. France is due to present its transposition bill to the Council of Ministers on 9 September 2026, with parliamentary debate expected later this year and adoption possibly extending into early 2027. The Dutch consultation on a draft ministerial regulation for gender pay gap reporting and a standardised reporting template closed on 11 September 2026, moving the Netherlands closer to implementation. Germany’s expert commission published its final recommendations in November 2025, and the government is now preparing draft amendments to the existing Transparency in Wage Structures Act, but no bill has been tabled.<\/p>\n

What to do:<\/strong> Even where national legislation has not yet landed, the directive’s principles are clear. European SMEs hiring across borders should start building pay structures based on objective, gender-neutral criteria now. Review job posting templates to include salary ranges. Stop asking candidates about current or previous pay. These steps will put you ahead of the curve in every market, regardless of when the local law formally arrives.<\/p>\n

Also developing<\/h2>\n

Denmark:<\/strong> The Danish Supreme Court ruled on 18 June 2026 that temporary agency workers covered by the Temporary Agency Work Act (vikarloven) cannot simultaneously be classified as salaried employees under the Salaried Employees Act (funktion\u00e6rloven). The cases involved workers assigned to Boeing and Siemens for two to three and a half years with multiple extensions. The court held that the duration of an assignment or the number of extensions does not in itself take a temporary position outside the scope of the Temporary Agency Work Act, provided each extension is objectively justified by the user company’s needs. What to do:<\/strong> Danish employers using agency workers for extended assignments should ensure each extension has a documented, objective justification. Do not assume that long duration alone triggers reclassification, but equally do not assume you are safe without a paper trail.<\/p>\n

Netherlands:<\/strong> The Dutch government published a draft Platform Work Act on 29 June 2026 to transpose the EU Platform Workers Directive, with the public consultation running until 24 August 2026. The bill introduces a rebuttable presumption of employment: where a digital labour platform meets at least two of five criteria indicating direction and control, the worker is presumed to be an employee. Platforms would carry the burden of proving otherwise. The draft also restricts automated decision-making and requires a human being to take important decisions affecting workers. A Ministry official has acknowledged that the Netherlands will not meet the 2 December 2026 EU transposition deadline. What to do:<\/strong> Companies engaging workers through digital platforms in the Netherlands should review their operating model against the five criteria in the draft bill now, rather than waiting for the final text. The presumption of employment will shift the burden of proof significantly.<\/p>\n

Ireland:<\/strong> The Workplace Relations Commission, Labour Court and Court of Appeal have all updated guidance on the use of AI tools in preparing legal submissions for employment disputes. The WRC’s guidance, first published in October 2025 and updated following the Court of Appeal judgment in Guerin v O’Doherty ([2026] IECA 48, March 2026), makes clear that AI-generated submissions are treated as the party’s own work and that AI tools are not trained on Irish law. Several cases have been complicated by fabricated case citations produced by AI tools, adding to capacity pressure on the WRC. What to do:<\/strong> HR teams preparing for WRC hearings or advising employees on dispute procedures should verify every legal reference in AI-assisted submissions. If using AI for drafting, treat the output as a first draft requiring human legal review, not a finished product.<\/p>\n

UK:<\/strong> The government has confirmed that the planned ban on “fire and rehire” practices, originally scheduled for October 2026, will be delayed until January 2027. Under the new rules in the Employment Rights Act 2025, dismissing an employee for refusing to agree to a contract variation will be automatically unfair unless the employer can demonstrate genuine financial difficulties threatening business viability. The ban extends to replacing employees with self-employed contractors or agency workers doing substantially the same work. The October 2026 package of changes (trade union rights statement, third-party harassment duty, extended tribunal time limits) remains on track. What to do:<\/strong> UK employers planning restructuring or contract changes should note the new January 2027 timeline for fire and rehire restrictions. Use the extra time to ensure any proposed contract variations can be justified on financial viability grounds, not simply cost reduction.<\/p>\n

Norway:<\/strong> The Supreme Court heard arguments on 2 and 3 September 2026 in a case concerning the scope of the “particularly independent position” exemption from working time rules under the Working Environment Act. The case involves a project manager in a construction company who claims overtime compensation, arguing that the exemption was wrongly applied. The ruling, expected in the coming weeks, could narrow or clarify the conditions under which employers can exempt senior staff from overtime and working time limits. What to do:<\/strong> Norwegian employers relying on the “particularly independent position” exemption should review the job descriptions and actual working conditions of exempt employees. If the Supreme Court narrows the exemption, reclassification and back-pay claims could follow.<\/p>\n

On the radar<\/h2>\n

UK Employment Rights Act, October 2026 (previously covered):<\/strong> trade union rights statement, workplace access for unions, third-party harassment duty and tribunal time limits doubling to six months all land on 1 and 30 October. The fire and rehire ban has been pushed to January 2027.<\/p>\n

EU Platform Workers Directive (previously covered):<\/strong> member states must transpose by 2 December 2026. The Netherlands has acknowledged it will miss the deadline. Italy has a draft legislative decree under parliamentary review.<\/p>\n

Germany Working Time Act reform (previously covered):<\/strong> the coalition continues to negotiate the shift from daily to weekly working time limits and mandatory electronic time recording. A formal bill is expected in the autumn parliamentary session.<\/p>\n

Switzerland:<\/strong> women’s retirement age rose by six months to 64 years and 6 months as of 1 January 2026, with full alignment to 65 due in 2028 under the AVS 21 reform. Separately, cantonal minimum wages in Geneva, Neuch\u00e2tel, Jura and Basel-Stadt were indexed upward from 1 January.<\/p>\n

Sources<\/h2>\n