We are hosting a webinar on March 10, 2026, where we will share how pay transparency can become part of the daily HR routine with a focus on simple setup and minimal administration.
Pay transparency is not just about new requirements; it is about creating greater clarity and fairness in compensation. In Denmark, the gender pay gap is currently around 14%. With the upcoming EU directive, companies must be able to document and explain pay differences, which in practice means that these gaps must be reduced to 5%.
This raises a natural question for many in HR: How do we approach this without making our daily work more complicated?
The answer lies in structure. When jobs, levels, and pay are linked, pay transparency becomes a manageable part of everyday life rather than an additional reporting burden. In this guide, we walk you through step-by-step how you can work with pay transparency in practice and how we can help you gain an overview and take action in time.
Step 1: Get an overview of employees and positions
The first and most important step is to gain an overview. Who is employed, in what roles, and how do the positions relate to one another?
Pay transparency requires that employees can be compared on an objective basis. This means that positions should be grouped into job families and levels so that it is clear which roles are comparable in terms of pay.
In Mindkey, positions, job levels, and employees are gathered in one place. This makes it possible to work systematically with job structure, even if you do not already have a fixed model. Many companies start simple and expand the structure over time.
Step 2: Analyze pay data and identify gaps
Once the structure is in place, the next step is to look at pay data. This is not about disclosing individual salaries, but about creating insight.
By analyzing pay across comparable positions, you can find answers to:
- Whether there are pay gaps within the same job category
- Whether the differences can be explained objectively
- Whether there are issues that should be adjusted now
In Mindkey, pay data is linked directly to jobs and roles, which makes the analysis simpler and less manual. Instead of pulling data from multiple systems, HR can work with pay insights and documentation in one place.
Step 3: Establish objective and gender-neutral criteria
Pay transparency is largely about being able to explain why pay is set the way it is. Therefore, it is important to have clear, objective, and gender-neutral criteria for compensation.
This could, for example, be experience, responsibility, skills, or results. The crucial thing is not which criteria you choose, but that they are clear, uniform, and applied consistently.
In Mindkey, pay ranges and salary bands can be linked directly to jobs and levels. This makes it easier to work in a structured way with pay policy while documenting how criteria are applied in practice, for example during hiring and salary adjustments.
Step 4: Adapt recruitment processes
The directive also sets requirements for recruitment. Among other things, employers may no longer ask about a candidate's previous salary, and pay ranges must be stated more clearly.
It is essential that the recruitment process aligns with your internal job and salary structure. When salary ranges are already defined for each role, it becomes easier to communicate compensation clearly and consistently—both internally and externally.
With Mindkey as a common point of reference, HR and managers can work from the same structure, creating cohesion between recruitment and the existing organization.
Review contracts and policies
Pay transparency also means that employees have the right to speak openly about their salaries. Therefore, contracts and internal policies should be reviewed so that any confidentiality clauses regarding pay can be removed or adjusted.
Although this is not new in legislation, the focus on this area will increase as the directive is implemented. It is a good idea to stay ahead of the curve.
Pay transparency doesn't have to be difficult
Pay transparency only becomes burdensome if it is handled as a separate compliance project. When structure, salary, and documentation are integrated into daily operations, transparency becomes a natural part of HR work.
At Mindkey, in close collaboration with customers, partners, and industry experts, we have developed a solution with exactly this purpose: to make pay transparency simple, practical, and closely linked to salary reporting.
The sooner you start, the easier it will be for you.
