Anti-Discrimination & Pay Transparency
EU Pay Transparency Directive 2023/970 from 07 June 2026: Section 12 AGG (German General Equal Treatment Act), complaints office, Section 22 AGG reversal of burden of proof (incl. AI recruiting), pay gap calculation + Joint Pay Assessment.
Who is subject to the AGG?
The AGG binds all employers from the very first staff member — unlike the Protection Against Dismissal Act, the statute sets no headcount threshold. The definition of "employee" in § 6 (2) AGG covers staff, trainees and job applicants alike. Even sole self-employed contractors are protected when bidding for work under § 18 AGG. Less favourable treatment is prohibited on each of the eight protected characteristics listed in § 1 AGG: race or ethnic origin, gender, religion, belief, disability, age and sexual identity.
What § 22 AGG means for the burden of proof
§ 22 AGG codifies a reversal of the burden of proof: once the claimant adduces indicia that make discrimination appear likely (a prima facie case), the burden shifts and the employer must prove that no discrimination occurred. The practical consequence is unavoidable: complete, contemporaneous documentation of every staffing decision — selection, promotion, pay, termination — is mandatory. Without a traceable scoring matrix, the exculpatory proof routinely fails in tribunal proceedings.
EU Pay Transparency 2023/970 — new duty from 07 June 2026
Directive (EU) 2023/970 introduces three new obligations — German transposition is still pending. Under Art. 7, every employee gains an individual right to information covering their own pay and the average pay levels broken down by sex. Art. 9 imposes a pay-gap reporting duty on undertakings with 250 or more employees. Where the unjustified gap exceeds 5%, a Joint Pay Assessment with worker representatives becomes compulsory.
The most important AGG · Pay Transparency topics in detail
Step-by-step guides with templates, regulatory references and audit checklists.
Listicles & top lists
Compact overviews — perfect for board meetings, newsletters or as an A4 print template.
HR specialist topics & use cases
Practitioner-grade AGG detail topics for HR, recruiting, termination and special situations.
AI Recruiting Safeguards
Bias audit, Human-in-the-Loop, applicant transparency
Complaints office workflow (§ 13 AGG)
6-step process: intake → triage → hearings → assessment → measures → lessons learned
Termination & discrimination claims
BAG case law + burden-of-proof management
Promotion workflow
AGG-compliant evaluation matrix + audit trail
Severely-disabled quota (§ 165 SGB IX)
5% quota, levy, mandatory invitation
BEM (§ 167 SGB IX)
5-step process for return-to-work management
Fixed-term & part-time (TzBfG)
AGG-compatible workflows
Religion & tendency employer
§ 9 AGG for faith-based employers
International workforce
Diversity dimensions for global teams
Glossary
Special topics by use case and mandatory terminology.
New pay transparency template
Right-to-information template for the EU Pay Transparency Directive 2023/970 from 07-Jun-2026.
Audit-ready in 2-4 hours
Instead of months of research: deployable templates, personalised with your company name, one-off investment instead of consultancy fees.
View Anti-Discrimination Kit →Sources
- German General Equal Treatment Act (AGG) — gesetze-im-internet.de (BGBl. 2006 I p. 1897, as currently in force)
- Directive (EU) 2023/970 (EU Pay Transparency Directive) — EUR-Lex English (transposition by 07 June 2026)
- Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency — AGG main page
- Federal Labour Court (BAG) — case law on Section 22 AGG (reversal of burden of proof)
- European Commission — Equal Pay / Pay Transparency Policy
- BMAS — Anti-discrimination protection in working life