New Era Recruitment: What Every Manager Should Remember When Meeting a Candidate

11.05.2026

Matylda is the HR Head at a large FMCG company. Recently promoted to the board, she hopes to quickly prove her value to the other leaders.

The opportunity arises sooner than expected. The company begins recruitment for a Sales Director position. Matylda wants to ensure the process is a success, so she decides to support Agnieszka—the HR Manager responsible for conducting it.

When Agnieszka prepares the shortlist, she comes to Matylda for a consultation. Out of three candidates, she recommends Zofia—a sales expert who, despite her young age, already has extensive experience gained at one of the top firms in the industry. Matylda, however, is not convinced.

— “Zofia is 30 years old. She definitely has a child already or will go on maternity leave soon. We need someone who is available. You know how it is with us… Customers won’t wait for a Sales Director to finish changing diapers!” — “We must hire a man,” Matylda states categorically. — “Invite Jacek instead—number two on your shortlist. And make sure he doesn’t have small children. We need someone at full capacity, without such limitations.”

After a moment, she adds: — “And the budget? Best to ask him directly how much he earns now. Then we’ll know what to offer him. This is an important role—we want to invest in it, but we don’t want to overpay.”

Agnieszka is surprised. She knows recruitment in this company has long followed its own rules. However, she hoped that the famous Pay Transparency Directive would change the rules of this game.

But does Matylda even know about the new regulations?

What does recruitment have to do with pay transparency?

For several months, new regulations implementing the EU Pay Transparency Directive have been functioning in Polish labor law. It is this directive that is intended to be the answer to the problem of discrimination in employment. Its goal is to level the playing field and “patch” the pay gap between female and male employees.

The directive covers the entire lifecycle of an employee. Therefore, the new regulations have “reached back” all the way to the recruitment stage. The new regulations are meant to ensure that recruitment processes are transparent and that candidates can negotiate their employment terms more consciously. They are also intended to limit unjustified pay differences and guarantee equal treatment—regardless of gender.

What did the Pay Transparency Directive change in recruitment rules?

First, the candidate for the job must be informed about the salary proposed by the company. This refers to the famous “salary brackets.” Importantly, these include not only the basic salary but also all other components of remuneration—allowances, bonuses, and benefits. It is not enough, however, to provide “any” brackets. The offer should stem from the internal pay structure.

Theoretically, the company should provide information about the brackets to the candidate in advance. The essence of the new regulation is that candidates can negotiate consciously with a potential employer. However, the new regulation also says that information about the brackets should reach the candidate at the latest before the contract is signed. Therefore, in practice, there is still significant flexibility here. The moment of communicating the salary level can de facto depend on the recruitment strategy and the company’s business practice.

Provide information about the salary level no later than before the contract is signed.

Second, you can no longer ask candidates about their previous or current earnings. This is about moving away from the mechanism of “transferring” undervalued salaries between employers. Remuneration is to result from the position and competencies, not the history of a given person. Of course, this does not mean that the company must immediately “lay its entire budget on the table.”

Instead of: “How much did you earn at the previous company?”, ask: “What are your financial expectations?” You can still talk to candidates about their financial expectations and treat exactly this information as a point of reference in eventual negotiations.

Third, job advertisements and job titles should be gender-neutral. This means moving away from forms such as “office assistant (female),” “sales director (male),” or “construction engineer (male).” Instead, it is worth using inclusive forms—such as “office assistant (m/f),” “sales director (m/f),” or “construction engineer (m/f/x).”

The goal of this change is to limit professional stereotypes and increase the diversity of applications. The language of job advertisements is not a matter of political correctness, but a factor that realistically influences the professional decisions of candidates.

Fourth, the recruitment process must be conducted in a non-discriminatory manner. This is largely not news, but an emphasis on rules that were already in force. The entire recruitment process—from the advertisement, through CV selection and interviews, to the choice of the candidate—should be based solely on competencies, experience, and skills. Personal characteristics—unrelated to work—should have no significance here.

It is therefore not permissible to reject a CV because the candidate’s name sounds “foreign.” Just as it is not permissible to ask a candidate who they spend their free time with—in order to determine if they have a family and children. Similarly, rejecting the candidacy of an experienced expert due to a rainbow flag on the wallpaper of their private phone is prohibited.

And it is precisely this rule that is actually key—both from a legal and business perspective.

Conduct training for leaders. Tell them to be guided only by competencies when choosing candidates.

From a legal point of view—a candidate who feels discriminated against can seek their rights before a labor court. From a business perspective—companies that focus on diversity and the absence of prejudice attract talent and build a work culture that is easier to engage with.

What, therefore, should you remember when conducting recruitment?

• Define the role and salary brackets before the start of the process—based on the pay structure, not “by feel.”
• Create inclusive advertisements—language influences who applies.
• Select CVs according to clear, substantive criteria—without “red flags” based on prejudice.
• Ask candidates about competencies and experience—not about private life. Remember that it is “availability,” and not “the absence of a child,” that is a characteristic of the employee.
• Do not ask about previous salary—in negotiations, base them on the role’s budget and the candidate’s expectations.
• Make decisions based on “hard” data and fit for the role. Document the evaluation of candidates.
• Close the process transparently. Clear feedback builds the company’s image and limits the risk of discrimination allegations.