How pay transparency does not create a legal problem, it creates a motivation problem.

THE SIGNAL
The EU pay transparency directive (deadline 7 June 2026) gives employees the legal right to request salary comparisons. At the same time, Belgian wage costs rose through automatic indexation and a minimum wage increase to €2,189.81 per April. Interim rates move directly and linearly with this.

THE INSIGHT
Most organisations treat this as an administrative obligation for permanent staff. But labour market tightness often places interim workers at the maximum scale immediately. Add holiday pay and sector premiums, and some already ‘out-earn’ the permanent colleague beside them. Once those figures become transparent, retention risk and wage pressure follow. The effect shows up late in the numbers, so the window to act is now.

THE ACTION
I advised my client on 20/05/26 to get ahead of this: map the complete wage mix today, permanent and flexible, before the transparency rules make the gaps visible. The point isn't legal compliance. It's the motivation of the permanent employee who discovers the interim colleague beside them earns more. Address that narrative yourself, or the numbers will tell it for you.

THE OUTCOME
On June 1, De Tijd and Het Laatste Nieuws covered the topic, triggered by a campaign from Payflip CEO Maura Nachtergaele, who raised exactly the same concerns. What was a signal on May 20 became national news just twelve days later. The client had communicated well ahead of the story.