Employers urged to disclose salary details in job listings as new pay‑transparency law approaches

Previous research from the CIPD shows that public‑sector and charity employers are more likely than private firms to publish pay information, with salary ranges being more common than exact figures.

However, not all employers are fully transparent, and some pay ranges can exceed £10,000.

CIPD chief executive Neil Carberry said that while disclosing salary details is “a good thing” in principle, in practice it is “more complicated”.

“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 added.

Carberry also noted that drafting job adverts is a complex process and argued that it is best left to good employer practice rather than government regulation.

The government has indicated it will set out further details on what information will be required and how the legislation will be enforced “in due course”.

Last week, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) described publishing salaries in job adverts as a “positive step”.

It also suggested that bosses should be required to respond to questionnaires about colleagues’ pay to reduce pay discrimination.

Currently, employers are not obliged to respond to employee requests for salary information about their co‑workers.

The EHRC further recommended that employers should be barred from asking about a candidate’s current salary when making an offer, in order to prevent a history of discrimination from continuing.

In the UK, employers may ask applicants about their current salary, but applicants have no legal obligation to disclose it.

Source link