EU Pay Transparency Directive: Intermediate

HR & People - Regulatory compliance
This course takes an HR Director or Reward Lead from awareness of the EU Pay Transparency Directive to operational delivery. You will learn how to design or audit a gender-neutral pay structure under Article 4, run a recruitment-stage transparency process under Article 5, calculate a gender pay gap and recognise a Joint Pay Assessment trigger, apply the burden-of-proof reversal under Article 18, and map a 12-month implementation roadmap across Malta and a second EU jurisdiction.

By the end, you will be able to design or audit an Article 4 pay structure and document it defensibly, build a compliant recruitment process, calculate and read a gender pay gap, recognise when a Joint Pay Assessment is triggered, apply the burden-of-proof reversal, and map an owner-named 12-month roadmap for a 100-to-250 employee employer.

Also in the EU Pay Transparency series:
← Foundations: EU Pay Transparency Directive: Foundations
→ Advanced: EU Pay Transparency Directive: Advanced

Access

Self-Paced Learning

Lessons

12 Lessons

Certification

Certificate of Completion

Price

€300
Learning Objectives
Course Benefits
Modules
By the end of this course, learners will be able to:

  • Design or audit a pay structure that meets the gender-neutral criteria requirement of Article 4, and document the rationale defensibly
  • Build a recruitment-stage transparency process compliant with Article 5, covering job adverts, interview conversations, and the salary-history ban
  • Run a gender pay-gap calculation against the Directive's methodology, using mean, median, and quartile distributions
  • Recognise when a category triggers a Joint Pay Assessment, and what the assessment involves
  • Apply the burden-of-proof reversal under Article 18 in realistic equal-pay scenarios
  • Map a 12-month implementation roadmap for a 100-to-250 employee employer in Malta and at least one other EU jurisdiction, naming owners, dependencies, and escalation triggers
Benefits for the Organisation

• Cut the most common pay-transparency failings - vague salary lines, salary-history questions, pay-secrecy clauses, undocumented pay structures - before they become a complaint or an enforcement matter
• Shorten the runway for every member of the HR team to recognise a Directive obligation and act on it correctly
• Evidence completed pay-transparency training to regulators, auditors, and works councils with timestamped records
• Standardise the language and process the whole HR function uses, with no improvised handling of a pay-information request
• Save your HR leads the time spent correcting non-compliant adverts, offer letters, and pay conversations

Benefits for Learners

• Design or audit a pay structure against Article 4 and document why it is defensible
• Run a gender pay-gap calculation and read mean, median, and quartile distributions correctly
• Recognise when a category triggers a Joint Pay Assessment and what the assessment involves
• Apply the Article 18 burden-of-proof reversal in realistic equal-pay scenarios
• Pass the assessment knowing every answer traces to Directive (EU) 2023/970 or Legal Notice 112 of 2025, not a study guide

Lesson 1: Welcome and orientation

Lesson 2: Article 4: structures that survive a tribunal

Take Asda v Brierley as the cautionary case, then learn what objective, gender-neutral criteria means in practice across skills, effort, responsibility, and working conditions. Audit an existing pay structure and document the reasoning so it survives a tribunal.

Lesson 3: Job evaluation without the bias

Apply any job-evaluation methodology defensibly, not just pick a brand. Learn the four-factor framework of skills, effort, responsibility, and working conditions, the common bias traps, and how to refresh an existing scheme without throwing it out.

Lesson 4: Pay bands that survive a public listing

Design pay bands that hold up when salaries become visible. Cover band architecture, the Maltese LN 112/2025 disclosure rule, and how to handle internal applicants and promotions.

Lesson 5: Reading the gap: mean, median, quartiles

Calculate and read a gender pay gap using mean, median, and quartile distributions, and learn which number triggers what, including the 5% unjustified-gap threshold for a Joint Pay Assessment.

Lesson 6: Recruitment, retrained

Rewrite job adverts, retrain interview scripts off salary-history questions, and handle internal versus external candidates correctly under Article 5.

Lesson 7: When the burden shifts

Apply the Article 18 burden-of-proof reversal: once a worker shows a prima facie gap, the employer must justify it. Cover evidentiary record-keeping and objective justification, drawing on Samira Ahmed v BBC.

Lesson 8: Malta from the operator chair

Run the Directive from the operator chair in Malta: DIER and NCPE engagement, Industrial Tribunal jurisdiction, and the IDPC interplay where pay data is processed.

Lesson 9: A 12-month roadmap, owners named

Map a 12-month implementation roadmap with named owners, quarter-by-quarter actions, and integration into the annual HR calendar.

Lesson 10: Resources and references

A consolidated reference library: the Directive and its parent legislation, the leading equal pay cases, official EU explainers, and the Member-State transposition trackers.

Lesson 11: Knowledge check

A ten-question assessment covering pay-structure design, job evaluation, gap calculation, the Joint Pay Assessment trigger, the burden of proof, and the Maltese operator view. Pass mark 80 percent, two attempts.

Lesson 12: Provide feedback and claim certificate

Share quick feedback on the course, then download your certificate of completion.

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Course FAQ's

Who is this course for?

HR Directors, Heads of People, Reward Leads, in-house Employment Counsel, L&D Managers, and Compliance Officers in EU employers, including Malta, with active responsibility for delivering the Directive in 2026 to 2027.

A working awareness of the Directive is assumed; Course 1 (Foundations) is the ideal primer.

Where and when can I take this course?

The course can be taken at any time and from any internet-connected device.

Do I need prior knowledge or experience?

This is an intermediate-level course. Concepts are explained clearly and practically, but a working awareness of the Directive, such as Course 1 (Foundations), is the ideal starting point.

Can this course be used for company-wide training?

Absolutely. This course is built for the HR, reward, and compliance team members across your organisation who are responsible for delivering the Directive.

Do I get a discount if I buy multiple seats for this course?

Yes. Please contact us and we will issue a quote according to your needs.

Will managers be able to track progress and completion?

Yes. Managers and administrators can track learner progress, completion rates, and assessment performance across the course.

This gives clear visibility on engagement and outcomes, making it easier to monitor participation, support staff where needed, and evidence completed pay-transparency training to regulators and auditors.

Is this course part of a larger pay transparency programme?

Yes. This is Course 2 of the Auren EU Pay Transparency Directive bundle - the Intermediate course, for HR Directors and Reward Leads who deliver the Directive operationally. It follows Course 1 (Foundations), the awareness floor for everyone in HR, and is followed by Course 3 (Advanced), for senior HR leaders handling Joint Pay Assessments, litigation exposure, and board-level briefing.

All three courses in the bundle can be taken as stand-alone courses.