New Push for UK Employers to Disclose Salaries on Job Adverts

Some of Britain’s most closely guarded secrets are not held by the government but by employers. For years, job adverts have dangled “competitive salaries” while carefully avoiding the one detail applicants wanted most. The feeling among jobseekers is that the pay stays hidden for one simple reason: if employers revealed it upfront, they might struggle to attract anyone at all.

For years, one of the most familiar phrases in recruitment has also been one of its most ridiculed: “competitive salary.”

Job seekers joke that it often means “we’ll tell you later” or “less than you hoped.” In most cases, the amount is so low that the employer is embarrassed to post it openly or they want to know how much you earned from your previous role so they can match it down.

Many scroll past adverts that promise exciting opportunities, flexible working and career growth, only to discover there is no clue about what the role actually pays.

The UK government now wants to change that. Under draft proposals to overhaul anti-discrimination laws, employers would be required to disclose salary information in job advertisements or, where no advert is published, provide the information to candidates in writing before an interview.

Ministers say greater pay transparency would help people decide whether to apply for jobs, reduce wasted time for employers and applicants, and help tackle discriminatory pay practices.

Exactly what employers would have to disclose has yet to be decided. Officials will consult on whether companies should publish a precise salary, a pay range or a “benchmark rate” for each role.

The consultation will also consider whether employers should disclose additional pay information, such as bonuses and other forms of remuneration.

In a policy document, the Cabinet Office said salary information would help jobseekers make informed decisions and improve recruitment by filtering out applicants with “misaligned pay expectations.”

The government also argues that greater transparency could reduce discrimination in hiring and pay-setting.

“When pay is opaque, salary decisions can be influenced by stereotypes – such as stereotypes of women, ethnic minorities, or disabled people,” the document said.

Although UK employers are not currently required to publish salaries, many have increasingly chosen to do so voluntarily in recent years.

Research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has found the practice is more common among public sector organisations and charities than in the private sector. It also found employers are more likely to advertise pay ranges than fixed salaries, although some published ranges span more than £10,000, limiting their usefulness.

The proposals mirror pay transparency rules being introduced across the European Union, where employers must disclose the starting salary or pay range for new positions either in job advertisements or before interviews.

EU employers will also be prohibited from asking candidates about their previous salaries, although that measure is not included in the UK consultation.

The Cabinet Office intends the new rules to apply across England, Wales and Scotland, with legislation to follow after a consultation with employers and industry groups that runs until October.

Whether Northern Ireland will adopt similar rules remains unclear. The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland has previously argued that EU pay transparency requirements should apply there under the Windsor Framework, while the Northern Ireland Executive has not confirmed whether it will introduce comparable measures.

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