Corporate controls and data protection: what balance?
A recent judgment of the Court of Pisa, No. 800 of 13 June 2026, addresses a topic of particular interest for companies: the delicate balance between the protection…
Two months after the decree. Since Legislative Decree 96/2026 came into force on 7 June, according to a flash survey conducted by GIDP, 8% of HR directors have received questions about average pay levels.
The first pay transparency requests are beginning to arrive from employees. Nearly two months after the entry into force of Legislative Decree 96/2026, which transposed into Italian law EU Directive 2023/970 aimed at strengthening equal pay between men and women for the same work, companies have already started receiving their first requests for information on average pay levels, broken down by gender, for categories of workers performing the same work or work of “equal value”, as provided for by Article * of the decree (a written response must be provided to the employee within two months of the request).
This is according to an initial survey carried out by Il Sole 24 Ore del Lunedì among law firms and HR managers at several companies.
The right to information. “As far as the companies we advise are concerned,” explains Davide Boffi, Partner in the Milan office of international law firm Dentons and Head of the Employment and Labor Practice for Europe and Italy, “several requests have already been received from employees in the pharmaceutical and automotive sectors.
Companies are preparing their responses, but they are also awaiting the guidelines that the Ministry of Labour is expected to issue, following consultation with the Data Protection Authority, in the first days of September through the implementing decrees concerning the exercise of the right to information in companies with fewer than 50 employees. Useful guidance may emerge from these provisions,” Boffi adds, “also by way of analogy.”
Several client companies have already received requests from employees. Ornella Patané, Partner at Toffoletto De Luca Tamajo, a law firm specializing in employment law and HR consulting, explains: “Requests for information on average pay levels have already been received and, in one case, a request was also submitted by a Workers’ Representative Body (RSU) seeking average and median remuneration data for employees. However, at present there is no obligation to share such data with employee representatives, who may only assist employees in exercising their right to request information. Furthermore,” she adds, “companies should inform employees about this new right to information and the procedures for exercising it.”
According to a flash survey conducted by GIDP (Intersectoral Group of HR Directors) for Il Sole 24 Ore del Lunedì among its member HR managers, 11% had received, as of 31 July, at least one employee request for information regarding average pay levels relating to their specific role or position. The HR managers who responded work for companies located primarily in northern Italy (73%), while 68% are employed by companies with more than 1,000 employees in Italy.
With regard to the written responses that must be provided to employees, 42% of the HR directors surveyed stated that their companies were implementing a dedicated standardized procedure in cooperation with their legal and payroll teams. Forty percent reported that a “total reward” system, with the relevant data already available, was already in place and would therefore allow the company to respond promptly. The remaining 18% indicated that requests would be assessed and handled on a case-by-case basis, without a standardized procedure.
Continue reading the full version published in Il Sole 24Ore