On 2 December 2025, a German court ruled that using sales volume associated with a role as a determining factor for differentiating remuneration levels may be incompatible with the principle of equal pay for work of equal value, as enshrined in the German Wage Transparency Act.
The court held that the positions in question were equivalent in terms of the value of the work, within the meaning of national law, in a case involving two managers with identical contractual conditions but different base salaries. The employer’s defences, based on differences in the sales volume associated with the role and the scope of managerial responsibilities, were rejected.
The court emphasized that the evaluation of work must be based on the requirements and responsibilities of the position, and not on the financial importance of the activity performed.