This page describes EU Directive 2023/970 and the Romanian transposition bill (Bill L445/2026, currently under urgent procedure in the Senate). The transposition law has not yet been adopted in Romania — according to the Ministry of Labour, until adoption "the obligations it establishes do not yet produce effects on employers." Information about deadlines and sanctions may change before the final adopted version. Last updated: August 24, 2026.
Art. 4
Legal Guide
Job Evaluation (EIGE)
What "work of equal value" actually means — and who decides that, objectively.
Art. 4 of the Directive requires employers to have pay-setting structures that ensure equal pay for equal work or work of equal value — assessed on the basis of objective, gender-neutral criteria (Art. 4(1), (4)).
- The criteria must include at least four dimensions: skills, effort, responsibility, and working conditions — plus any other factor relevant to that specific role (Art. 4(4)).
- Member states must provide employers with analytical tools and methodologies for gender-neutral job evaluation and classification (Art. 4(2)).
The 4 legal criteria are exactly the criteria in the EIGE methodology — the European Institute for Gender Equality — already detailed into 14 sub-criteria in a public guide. The Directive explicitly provides for consulting EIGE on any future update to the EU guidelines (Art. 4(3)); we use their methodology because it's already aligned exactly with the law, not our own interpretation.