What an Equal Pay Monitor report looks like
A complete pay gap analysis in one document: what the difference is, which part can be objectively explained, and which part needs attention. Below you walk through the report chapter by chapter, using fictional figures.
All figures and names on this page are fictional. They show how the report is built up, not the outcome of a real engagement.
What you receive
The deliverable is a single PDF of roughly twenty pages, plus a working file containing the underlying calculations. The report is written to be put in front of a management board, a works council and, if it comes to that, a supervisory authority. Not raw output from a statistics package, but a document that explains what is going on.
Schematic representation. The actual report shows, per job group, the number of employees, the average difference in euros and percentages, and the variables that explain it.
Chapter by chapter
1. Executive summary
One page for the board. The headline outcome, the number of job groups with an unexplained difference, and the recommendation. Written so that someone who reads nothing else still knows what is happening and what is being asked of them.
2. Scope and data basis
Which entities, which reference date, how many employees, which pay components were included. Base salary, variable pay, allowances, pension contributions and benefits are listed separately, because the directive treats them separately. This chapter also states what is not included and why.
3. Job classification and work of equal value
Equal pay for work of equal value first requires an answer to the question of which work is of equal value. This chapter records the criteria used to group roles: skills, responsibility, effort and working conditions. It is the foundation the rest of the analysis rests on, and in practice it generates the most discussion.
4. The unadjusted pay gap
The raw difference between the average pay of women and men, for the organisation as a whole and per job group, in percentages and in euros. Plus the median difference, which the directive explicitly asks for, and the proportion of women and men in each pay quartile.
5. Explaining the difference
This is where the real work sits. Using a regression model we test which part of the difference is associated with objective, gender-neutral factors such as job level, tenure, part-time factor, region and education. What remains is the unexplained share. That is the number the directive and the supervisory authority look at.
Why the unexplained share matters
The directive attaches a concrete obligation to this number: where a category of workers shows a difference of five percent or more that cannot be justified by objective, gender-neutral criteria, and that is not remedied within six months, you must carry out a joint pay assessment together with workers' representatives. That is the scenario you would rather see coming than have arrive.
6. Findings per job group
For each group: how large the difference is, how much of it is explained, and where the remainder sits. No individual employees are named, but there is enough detail to know where to look. Groups too small for reliable conclusions are flagged as such rather than dropped.
7. Recommendations and next steps
Concrete and prioritised: what you can do this quarter, what requires policy change, and what is a matter of documentation rather than correction. Including an estimate of what a correction would cost where that applies.
8. Methodology and audit trail
The appendix nobody reads until someone asks for it. Which data was used, which transformations were applied, which assumptions were made, who supplied and approved what and when. This makes the analysis reproducible: a third party can follow the same steps and arrive at the same result.
What you can do with it
Evidence for policy
A factual basis for pay conversations and salary policy, without having to run the numbers yourself.
Traceable substantiation
A traceable method and record showing exactly how you reached your conclusions.
One page, one picture
Where you stand, what it costs to put right, and what happens if you do nothing.
Frequently asked questions about the report
Do we also get the underlying calculation?
Yes. Alongside the PDF you receive a working file with the tables and model output, so your own people or your accountant can verify it.
Can individual salaries be traced?
No. The report works with groups. Groups small enough for results to become traceable to individuals are merged or explicitly flagged as too small.
Is this report the same as the statutory report?
It contains the data the directive requires, in the same breakdown. The final statutory dataset depends on the Dutch implementing act, which is still before parliament. The page on the EU Pay Transparency Directive sets out where that stands.