Pay transparency in recruitment – salary ranges, candidate communications and interview checks | Word/PDF/Excel

How do you determine and communicate a reasonable starting salary range before the candidate negotiates their salary? This niche HR package helps Swedish employers and recruiters document salary ranges for a specific role, objective and gender-neutral criteria, candidate communications, job advertisement/interview checks, and decisions on any deviations. It is a standalone preparatory module for the recruitment process, not a general salary mapping package.

Important legal status in Sweden as of November 10, 2026: The EU Pay Transparency Directive (EU) 2023/970, particularly Article 5, has been adopted, but no new Swedish implementing law has yet been adopted. The government has stated that it is currently not introducing a bill, and DO continues its preparatory work. This product is a voluntary planning and process tool, not a claim that Article 5 has already created a new general Swedish legal obligation. Currently applicable anti-discrimination laws, GDPR, and collective agreements must still be followed.

Complete File List

Who is the template for?

For small business owners, HR managers, recruiters, personnel managers, employers, and recruitment agencies who want to prepare a transparent and consistent salary process. Typical use cases are recruiting for a new position, multiple advertisements for the same job group, different salary setting decisions between managers, questions from candidates about salary, and adjusting ATS forms that ask about previous salary.

How do you use the Excel register?

The nine tabs are named Overview, Role Register, Range, Communication, Interviews, Deviations, Decisions, Legal Status, and Read Me. Fill in pseudonymous role and process IDs. Use real, objective job requirements and a correctly defined starting salary range; specify the same time unit and which compensation components are included.

The formulas provide, among other things, “STOP – INCORRECT RANGE” when the maximum salary is lower than the minimum, “STOP – SALARY HISTORY ISSUE” with a Yes in the interview check, “STOP – CLOSED WITHOUT VERIFICATION” for a deviation without retesting, and “STOP – GO WITHOUT SIGN-OFF/SOURCE” for an internally approved one without a decision-maker and source version. The calculation logic has been scenario-tested. No actual candidate, personal salary history, or made-up salary amounts have been filled in the customer file.

Neither green check signals nor an internal GO imply legal compliance, regulatory approval, or guarantees of equal pay. Excel does not perform a complete salary mapping and does not replace the company's GDPR routines for personal data.

What does the EU Directive actually say?

Article 5.1 covers the right to information about the starting salary or salary range for the position, based on objective, gender-neutral criteria, as well as relevant collective agreement provisions where applicable. The information should be provided so that the salary negotiation can be informed and transparent – for example, in the advertisement, before the interview, or in another appropriate way. The Directive does not require that all job advertisements always show an amount.

Article 5.2 states that employers shall not ask job seekers about salary history from current or previous employment. Article 5.3 covers gender-neutral job titles and job advertisements, as well as non-discriminatory recruitment. Article 4 covers objective criteria when assessing equal or equivalent work. Use these as a preparation standard; Swedish national implementation must be checked separately.

See The Government's page on the Pay Transparency Directive and the Swedish Equality Ombudsman's current information. No date for new Swedish law is stated as decided in the package.

How the employer uses the package

1. Define the actual position, responsibilities, working conditions, and objective criteria.
2. Develop and sign off on a realistic starting salary range with a consistent unit and relevant collective agreement.
3. Review the advertisement and candidate communication; inform in good time for an informed salary negotiation.
4. Check questions in the application system and interview guide, including fields for previous salary.
5. Compare any offer with documented criteria and communicated range.
6. Document deviations, retesting, and internal sign-off without unnecessary personal data.
7. Check the Swedish legal status before each live use or major process change.

Frequently Asked Questions

Am I already obliged under new Swedish law to state salary in all advertisements?

No, no such new general Swedish rule under Article 5 has been introduced as of the review date. The Directive also allows other appropriate ways to communicate starting salary or range.

Is it allowed to ask about the candidate's previous salary?

Article 5.2 of the Directive contains a prohibition that member states shall implement. The package helps the employer voluntarily prepare by refraining from such questions; applicable Swedish law must be assessed separately.

Must the range be the same for everyone applying?

The information should refer to the position and have an objective and gender-neutral basis. Actual criteria, the role's requirements, and applicable agreements are more important than a made-up or arbitrary percentage.

Does a Swedish effective date of January 1, 2027, apply?

It has previously been discussed as a proposal, but it is not a confirmed date for new Swedish rules according to the current information from the government and DO.

Does individual salary access for current employees apply?

No. That is a separate matter covered in Salary Access – Request and Employer Response. For the annual internal analysis, there is Salary Mapping.

Do I get an automatic market salary in Excel?

No. No current market salaries, standard rates, or made-up example amounts have been pre-filled. The company must enter its own substantiated range.

Can I fill in the PDF files directly?

The PDF files are searchable and printable, but do not have interactive form fields. Edit the main templates in Word.

Can the documents be used in English?

The five working templates and Excel are in Swedish. A separate English User Guide explains the process; it is not a translation of the templates.

Related Products

Candidate Assessment and Competency-Based Recruitment complements the objective selection. Employment Offer and Terms Addendum, however, applies to the final offer and employment terms.

Source Review, Version, and Liability

Version 1.0, November 10, 2026. The source check is AI-assisted against EU Directive 2023/970, the Government Offices, DO, and the Swedish anti-discrimination law. No external legal or regulatory review has been performed. The template is a voluntary HR support tool and neither an official regulatory form nor a promise that a future Swedish law is met. The digital ZIP is delivered only after the Shopify Digital Products connection and manual publication have been completed.