Andy Burnham, UK Prime Minister, has urged businesses to start including salary details in job advertisements voluntarily ahead of proposed legislation that will make pay transparency compulsory.
The government plans to introduce the legislation as soon as possible, requiring employers to disclose salary information or expected pay ranges when advertising vacancies.
The proposed measure is aimed at making recruitment fairer, helping jobseekers make informed decisions and tackling workplace pay discrimination, particularly the gender pay gap. Burnham said the current recruitment system was often unfair to applicants, who spend time applying for jobs without knowing how much they would earn.
He described the situation as being weighted against jobseekers, particularly young people entering the labour market. He said publishing salaries upfront would help applicants understand what employers were offering before investing time and effort in the recruitment process.
The Prime Minister also called on politicians and government institutions to adopt the practice, noting that the proposed requirement would apply to them as well. The government said its consultation on pay transparency attracted overwhelming support, with 94 per cent of respondents backing the proposal.
The initiative forms part of broader efforts to address youth unemployment and reduce the number of young people not in education, employment or training.
According to the government, transparent salary information could expose unjustified pay differences, give employees greater confidence to challenge discrimination and prevent workplace disputes.
Data from UK jobs website Adzuna showed that only 51 per cent of job advertisements on its platform in September included salary information, with the proportion declining in recent years.
Andrew Hunter, Adzuna co-founder, said salary transparency should become standard practice, adding that employers who disclose pay details attract more applicants and better-suited candidates.
However, the proposed legislation has attracted concerns from some employer representatives.
Neil Carberry, Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), said salary transparency was desirable but acknowledged that determining pay could be complicated.
He explained that salaries were not always fixed and could depend on applicants’ skills, experience and potential, arguing that the preparation of job advertisements should largely remain a matter of good employer practice rather than government regulation.
The Conservative Party also criticised the proposal, arguing that additional regulation could increase the burden on businesses already facing difficulties recruiting workers.
