demand information from the employer about the composition of the remuneration (Remuneration Transparency Act)

Under certain conditions, you can request information from your employer on the composition and amount of your own remuneration and on a comparative activity.

Your employer is obliged to treat all employees according to the same principles and not to discriminate against anyone in terms of pay because of their gender. According to the Remuneration Transparency Act (Entgelttransparenzgesetz), under certain conditions he must tell you which criteria and procedures are used to determine your remuneration as well as the remuneration for an equal or equivalent job in the company. He must also tell you how high this pay is in comparison (median of at least six people of the opposite sex).
You can make a request if you are

• Employee in the public service and in the private sector,
• civil servant of the Federal Government as well as public corporations, institutions and foundations subject to the supervision of the Federal Government,
• a federal judge,
• soldier,
• employed for the purpose of vocational training,
• employed in homework or treated in the same way as such employees.

are employed in this way.

It is important that your company has at least 200 employees. What exactly you can ask depends on whether or not your employer is bound by collective agreements or applies a collective agreement.
If your employer is bound by a collective agreement or applies a collective agreement, it must, for your job and the comparative job you have nominated

• set out in detail the criteria and procedure for determining pay. If the respective remuneration components are regulated in the collective agreement or by law, a simplified answer is sufficient (the collective agreement or statutory regulation must, however, be stated) and
• determine the amount of the average gross monthly remuneration and for up to two separate remuneration components.
• The following applies to the specification of the comparative activity: The comparative pay is calculated from all employees of the opposite sex who are classified in the same pay group as yourself). The prerequisite is that 6 or more employees of the opposite sex work in the comparison group. Otherwise, you will not receive any information on the amount of the comparative pay for reasons of data protection.

If your employer is not bound by or applying a collective agreement, it must:

• explain in detail the criteria and procedure for determining pay for your job and for the comparative job asked about (a simplified answer is not sufficient),
• state to what extent the comparative activity is predominantly carried out by one sex,
• if applicable, explain in a way that you can understand why your job and the job of the comparison group are not equivalent and relate the information to a job that he or she considers to be of equal value
• if there are 6 or more employees of the opposite sex in the comparator group: state the level of pay as the statistical mean (median) of all employees of the opposite sex doing the comparator job.
• provide the answer in text form within 3 months.

In order to improve the transparency of pay structures, private employers with more than 500 employees are encouraged (but not required) to implement company procedures to review and establish equal pay. If it has carried out such a review procedure with the involvement of the works council, your employer must inform employees of the results, for example at a works meeting or by publishing the results internally.

In addition, employers who are required to prepare management reports under the German Commercial Code and who generally have more than 500 employees must prepare a report on equal opportunities and equal pay for women and men and publish it as an annex to the management report in the Federal Gazette.
If your employer violates the equal pay principle, you can demand to be paid the same as your better-paid colleagues with the same or comparable jobs. According to the general principles of civil law, the employer is obliged to pay withheld benefits. If he is not prepared to do so, you can enforce your claims in court. The information from the right to information can help you to enforce your claims.

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Forms: yes

Online procedure possible: no

Written form required: no, text form

Personal appearance required: no

• Your company or department has more than 200 employees
• They are employees within the meaning of the law, i.e.
  • employees in the public sector
  • and in the private sector,
  • Federal civil servants and public corporations, institutions and foundations subject to Federal supervision,
  • Federal judge,
  • soldier,
  • employed for the purpose of vocational training,
  • employed in home work or treated in the same way as those so employed.
• for information on the amount of comparative pay: at least six employees of the opposite sex are engaged in the activity in question (data protection).

You must make the request for information in text form, i.e. in writing or by e-mail.

• You can print out the sample form and fill it in. However, you can also make your request informally (i.e. without a form)
• Submit your request in person or send it by e-mail or post
  • for employers who are bound by or apply collective agreements: to the works council (or, in the public sector, to the staff council) or
  • in the case of employers who are not bound by or apply collective agreements: directly to your employer.
• If your employer is not bound by or applying a collective agreement, it must reply to you in writing, i.e. by letter or e-mail, within 3 months of receiving your request.
• If there is a delay in replying, your employer must tell you about it
• If you have the impression that you are being discriminated against in terms of pay because of your gender, you can talk to your employer or contact the works council or staff council. If necessary, you can also take legal action.

• For information requests made between January 6, 2018 and January 5, 2021: Waiting period of three years until the next possible request.
• For requests for information made on or after January 6, 2021: Waiting period of two years until the next possible request.

Note: These time limits do not apply if employees show that there has been a material change in conditions.

• For employers not bound by or applying collective agreements: reply within 3 months (if the reply is delayed, the enquirers must be informed).
• In the case of employers who are bound by or apply collective agreements: no explicit deadline.

Note: Employees can ask for the support of the works or staff council.

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