In a move aimed at boosting transparency in the job market, UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham is calling on businesses to start including salary details in job adverts immediately, rather than waiting for legislation that will soon make it mandatory. The government plans to introduce a law requiring pay information in adverts as soon as possible, arguing that this will empower jobseekers, especially those entering the workforce, and help combat pay discrimination.
Government Push for Pay Transparency
The announcement follows a Cabinet Office consultation on pay and discrimination held earlier this summer, which revealed overwhelming public support for greater openness. According to the government, 94% of respondents backed the move. "Whether you're a young person starting out or a parent trying to support your family, you should know what a job pays before spending your time and effort applying for it," Burnham said. The initiative is part of efforts to reduce the nearly one million young people not in education, employment or training (Neet), ahead of the final report of the Milburn Review into youth inactivity, expected in the coming weeks.
Publishing salary details upfront could expose unjustified pay gaps, give workers more confidence to challenge discrimination, and prevent pay disputes from escalating, the government said. The proposals mirror measures being introduced in the European Union, where employers will be required to disclose the initial pay or range for new roles, either in job adverts or before interviews.
Current State of Salary Transparency
Data from UK jobs website Adzuna shows that 51% of adverts on its site in September included salary information, but this proportion has been declining in recent years. Andrew Hunter, co-founder of Adzuna, believes openness about pay "should be the norm, not the exception," adding that employers who include salaries attract more and better-suited applicants. However, not all businesses are on board. Neil Carberry, chief executive of the CIPD, an industry body for HR managers, said that while transparency is good in principle, setting pay is more complicated in practice. "There isn't always a single fixed figure, and employers will want to set pay based on a candidate's skills, experience and potential," he said, suggesting that drafting job adverts is best left to good employer practice rather than government regulation.
Previous CIPD research indicates that public sector and charity employers are more likely to disclose pay information than private firms, and pay ranges are more common than specific salaries. However, not all employers are fully transparent, with some pay ranges spanning more than £10,000.
Equality Watchdog Weighs In
The call for salary transparency comes a week after the UK's equality watchdog, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), recommended that employees should have a legal right to find out what their colleagues earn. The EHRC also suggested that bosses should be required to respond to questionnaires about colleagues' pay to reduce discrimination, and that employers should be barred from asking about current salary during job offers to prevent perpetuating historical pay disparities. Currently, UK employers can ask about current pay, but applicants are not obligated to disclose it.
The government has said it will provide further details on the information required and enforcement of the legislation in due course. As the debate continues, the push for pay transparency is gaining momentum, with potential implications for businesses and jobseekers alike.
