Government plans law forcing employers to publish salaries in job adverts
Prime Minister Andy Burnham says employers will have to state pay in job adverts, but timing, scope and enforcement are still to be set out.
Employers will be legally required to publish salaries in job adverts, Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on Friday, though the timing and reach of the law are still to be settled.
An estimated 41% of employers always publish salary ranges, which means more than half do not do so every time they advertise a role.
Only 18% of employers, roughly one in five, always publish a specific salary, according to the figures the government cited in support of the change.
Burnham said: “That’s why we will make it a legal requirement for all employers to say what you pay.”
The government said the rule would make openness about pay the minimum standard, while backing employers that already state salaries in their adverts.
Legislation will be brought forward “as soon as possible”, the government said, but no date or bill has been named for the change.
Details on scope, the information that must be included, implementation and enforcement will be set out in due course.
In the meantime, Burnham is calling on all businesses to state pay in job adverts now, rather than wait for the law to change.
The government argues that publishing salaries upfront can help expose unjustified differences in pay and prevent disagreements over pay escalating into disputes.
It also says publishing pay can give workers greater confidence to challenge discrimination.
It also says hiding pay forces candidates to negotiate blind, which it argues leaves women more vulnerable to lower pay offers.
For young people taking their first steps into work, the government says, knowing the salary upfront helps them focus on the right opportunities and apply with greater confidence.
A consultation found strong backing among employers: early analysis shows 94% of respondents supported the requirement, including 93% of businesses.
Bridget Phillipson, the minister for women and equalities, said mandatory salary information would “help close the gender pay gap”.
She added that requiring employers to publish salaries in adverts was “a significant step towards making work fairer for women and tackling the gender pay gap”.
The proposal is separate from the existing duty on larger firms. Any employer with 250 or more employees on a specific date each year must report its gender pay gap data.
The government presented the change as part of a wider drive to get more young people earning or learning, and said one in eight 16 to 24 year olds are not in education, employment or training.
It said the move would tackle a common frustration among jobseekers, particularly those applying for a first job, who can still be asked to apply without knowing what they will earn.
Further reforms will follow the final report of the Milburn Review into youth inactivity, which is due in the coming weeks.
