3 HR innovations for compensation in 2026

Compensation plays a crucial role in attracting and retaining talent within organizations. Professionals are looking for jobs that offer competitive remuneration, meet their financial needs and guarantee their future stability. To remain competitive, companies need to rethink their approach to compensation. Discover 3 innovations on compensation in 2023 to redefine the professional experience and foster commitment and performance within organizations.

The compensation is one of the key factors in attracting and retaining profiles and talent within a company. Employees are often looking for jobs that offer competitive remuneration that enable them to meet their financial needs, as well as look after their families and their future.

By offering a attractive remuneration package, the company can attract qualified candidates for the position. It can also encourage employees to stay with the company by offering salary increases, bonuses benefits, stock options, pension plans…

The remuneration package is nowadays a delicate matter, made up of several components that are important for a well-balanced remuneration package.

Among these components, we can mention 4:

• Fixed remuneration : remunerates performance of the work expected in the position
• Variable compensation : remunerates individual performance and/or job constraints
• Employee savings : involving employees in the company’s success
• Employee benefits : creating favourable working conditions

These components are playing an increasingly important role in HR management decisions. According to WTW’s Salary Budget Planning survey (January 2026, primary source, 900+ French companies), 65% of employers are planning individual raises in 2026 (versus 47% in 2025), and 44% are planning profit-sharing or employee savings schemes (versus 32%). Remuneration is once again a tool for strategic performance management, with individualization becoming the new norm.

Compensation innovation #1: salary transparency

In France, there is as yet no general legal obligation for companies to make their employees’ remuneration public. However, since September 2018, the “Avenir professionnel” law has obliged companies with more than 50 employees to negotiate an agreement on professional equality between women and men every three years, which may include an obligation for salary transparency.

Under this agreement, companies are required to carry out an analysis of their pay practices, in order to identify any pay inequalities between men and women. They must also put in place measures to correct them and monitor progress.

In addition to these legal obligations, some companies may choose to make their employees’ remuneration public for reasons of transparency and fairness. This is still relatively rare in France, not least because of the culture of secrecy and the “taboo” surrounding salaries.

It should also be noted that pay transparency is not limited to gender equality. It can also be an effective tool for combating all forms of wage discrimination, whether related to gender, age, ethnic origin or any other protected characteristic.

The adjusted salary gap, i.e. the average salary of men and women with the same position, the same seniority and living in the same place, is :

• 3.5% adjusted gap in non-transparent companies

• 2.4% for those who have only made their compensation policy transparent

• 2% for those with a transparent pay policy and pay scale

• 0% for those who have opted for full transparency of individual salaries

According to Samuel Durand, lecturer on the future of work and author of Work In Progress (Eyrolles, 2022), only 8% of French companies share their salary grids compared with 12% in Germany and 15% in the UK.

There are 4 levels ofsalary transparency :

This transparency of salaries in a company creates an atmosphere of overall fairness and employee motivation. Employees know that they are being paid what they are worth, and that they are not at a disadvantage compared to other colleagues. Financial discrimination is one of the main causes of employee demotivation and resignation.

Nowadays, few companies opt for salary transparency, which presents a unique competitive advantage for the minority who do. Indeed, when recruiting, it enables candidates who apply for a position to project their potential career development throughout their time with the company. It also saves the recruiter time, as candidates who apply to this type of ad are generally in line with the remuneration offered.

By adopting transparent compensation policies, companies strengthen their competitiveness on the job market and attract the best talent. In this way, salary transparency helps to create a positive corporate culture focused on fairness and employee appreciation.

Pay transparency is often accompanied by complementary measures, such as savings plans, profit-sharing and fringe benefits, designed to promote employee loyalty and commitment.

Pay transparency becomes a legal obligation in 2026

European Directive 2023/970, which is currently being transposed into French law, will impose new structuring obligations on all organizations:

• Display a salary range in each job advert, before the first interview, so that the words “depending on profile” disappear.

• Prohibit asking candidates for their salary history

• Enable any employee to request average pay levels for comparable positions, broken down by gender (response required within two months).

• Publish a report on the gender pay gap annually for companies with 250 or more employees, and every three years for companies with 150 to 249 employees.

• Initiate corrective action for any unjustified deviation in excess of 5%.

A major legal change accompanies these obligations: the burden of proof is reversed. It is no longer up to the employee to prove wage discrimination, but up to the employer to demonstrate that the differences are justified by objective criteria (primary source: EU directive 2023/970). Confidentiality clauses in employment contracts are now null and void.

According to the Tissot / PayFit HR Barometer 2026 (primary source), 52% of companies plan to address these issues in 2026, compared with just 28% who had worked on their compensation policy in 2025. Nevertheless, 38% of HR professionals anticipate tensions or negative reactions linked to its implementation.

Point of vigilance: France is behind schedule in transposition. The draft law was transmitted to the social partners in March 2026, with effective entry into force expected during 2027. Nevertheless, it’s in companies’ interest to anticipate the situation now by formalizing their pay scales and development criteria (source: PayFit, April 2026).

These challenges are fully in line with an employee-centric approach, which places the employee at the heart of HR decisions.

Innovation in remuneration #2: innovative remuneration formats

We can’t talk about compensation not to mention inflation and its impact on employees’ daily lives. France is currently experiencing high inflation for a number of national and international reasons. It is a major concern for the French, as it increases the cost of living and reduces purchasing power.

Employers are called upon to support their employees, even if it remains difficult for some companies to keep up with market trends in terms of increases for all employees.

One of the challenges lies in the different forms of remuneration. We are seeing the emergence of new formats for fixed remuneration.

Innovating fixed remuneration with new formats

One of the challenges lies in the different forms of remuneration. We are seeing the emergence of new formats for fixed remuneration:

• Pay-as-you-go some companies have begun to offer on-demand payments for employees who need immediate access to their salary. This can help employees avoid high-interest payday loans or manage unexpected expenses. Other companies buy back their employees’ RTT days by paying them overtime.

• Flexible remuneration : employers pay part of the salary in the form of flexible remuneration for employees (additional leave or teleworking days).

• Non-monetary compensation : employers offer non-monetary benefits such as health care, parental leave, wellness programs, educational benefits…

Innovative compensation and benefits

Companies are also investing in social benefits that can help and relieve employees in their daily lives. These services are diverse, varied and specific to each company:

• Flexible financial benefits : more and more employers are offering reimbursement options for expenses such as childcare, healthcare or 100% of transportation costs, allowing employees to choose the benefits that suit them best.

• Additional paid leave: some companies offer days off for personal care or volunteer activities, to support employees in their personal and professional lives.

• Retirement planning : employers offer retirement planning programs to help employees prepare for their financial future. Several companies, such as Carrefour, offer 30-minute consultations with a financial coach to their employees nearing retirement, so that they can better manage and optimize their savings investments.

By recognizing the importance of compensation and benefits in the working lives of their employees, companies contribute to their motivation and commitment. These issues are part of the major challenges facing HR departments today, as they have to reconcile attractiveness, fairness and regulatory compliance.

Individual annual interviews are often perceived as inefficient and a source of stress for employees. Yet they play a crucial role in the professional development, motivation and performance of teams. Find out more in our dedicated article, 3 ideas to innovate around interviews and performance.

Innovation in compensation #3: socially responsible savings

More and more employees are becoming aware of environmental and social issues as citizens, and expect their employer to set an example.

Investment funds have economic, social and environmental impacts, depending on the companies they finance.
The Plan d’Épargne Entreprise (PEE) and the Plan d’Épargne pour la Retraite Collectif (PERCO) are employee savings schemes that enable employees to build up long-term savings by investing part of their remuneration (profit-sharing, incentive schemes, etc.) in financial products.

Company Savings Plan

The PEE is one of France’s leading employee savings schemes. It allows you to block a sum of money for important life events (property purchase, marriage/PACS, birth…).

The Collective Retirement Savings Plan (Plan d’Épargne pour la Retraite Collectif)

The PERCO is also an employee savings scheme that enables employees to build up savings, notably for their retirement.

The funds on offer are more or less responsible. They are assessed according to ESG (Environment, Social and Governance) criteria.

ESG criteria are increasingly used to assess the performance of companies and investments, as they enable environmental, social and ethical considerations to be factored into financial decision-making. Investors can thus use ESG criteria to assess the risk associated with an investment and to select companies that are better aligned with their values and objectives.

Companies can therefore communicate and suggest to their employees that they invest their PEE or PERCO in socially responsible funds, enabling them to finance companies that have a positive impact on their ecosystem. This gives employees the chance to get involved in social and environmental causes.

By integrating socially responsible savings into their pay policy, companies are boosting employee satisfaction, improving direct compensation and helping to build a more sustainable future.

In the wake of the latest health crisis, employees are increasingly looking to upgrade their skills in order to renew and adapt. Companies therefore need to innovate in the field of training to meet these demands and continue to attract and retain talent. In our dedicated article, you will find
innovative ways to effectively support your employees in their professional development
.

Conclusion on HR innovation in compensation in 2023

In conclusion, innovation in compensation is essential to creating a dynamic corporate culture and fostering employee loyalty. By optimizing their compensation packages and offering appropriate benefits, organizations boost their competitiveness and contribute to the professional well-being of their teams.

In 2026, these three innovations are converging on the same imperative: to make compensation more transparent, fairer and more aligned with employees’ values. Pay transparency is no longer a strategic choice reserved for pioneering companies; it has become a regulatory obligation.

Innovative formats and responsible savings remain powerful differentiation levers for attracting and retaining talent. These transformations require structured change management to ensure that managers and HR teams adopt the new practices over the long term.

This article is one of a series dedicated to HR innovation, the fruit of research, analysis and reflection by the LAB SQORUS teams.

At SQORUS, our HR Council teams can help you review policies, processes and tools for all aspects of the HR function, including compensation. If you are interested in this topic, please contact us to discuss it.

FAQ – HR and compensation innovations in 2026