Burnham announces legal requirement for salaries in job adverts

Employers will be legally required to include pay information in job advertisements, prime minister Andy Burnham has announced. The government says the change will give applicants a clearer understanding of the roles they are considering and help existing employees assess whether their own pay is fair compared with that of others.

Campaigners say greater transparency could particularly benefit women and young people seeking more equal pay. Experts argue that advertisements without salary details leave younger applicants struggling to judge which vacancies to pursue. They also say the lack of information gives employers more scope to offer some candidates, including women, lower pay.

Burnham said people should be able to find out what a position pays before investing time and effort in an application, whether they are entering employment or supporting a family. Paul Nowak, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, highlighted the frustration caused by adverts that describe pay only as a “competitive salary”.

Important details of the requirement remain undecided. Ministers have yet to determine precisely what pay information employers must disclose, which company sizes will fall within its scope and how compliance will be enforced. The government said 93% of businesses responded positively to its consultation. Recent research from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development found that fewer than half of employers always included salary ranges in job advertisements, while fewer than a fifth consistently gave an exact salary.

The announcement follows a consultation launched by ministers in July on measures to improve the operation of equal pay laws. Those proposals also covered stronger equality protections for disabled people and ethnic minorities. The government has not yet announced its final decisions on those elements of the consultation.

Burnham also called on businesses to provide opportunities that help young people develop the experience and confidence to enter employment. Ministers have pledged additional measures to support young people into work in response to a review by former minister Alan Milburn, which is due to be published in the coming weeks.

The salary disclosure proposal joins a series of measures Burnham has announced during his first few months in office to improve daily life. These have included taking VAT off electricity bills, cutting bus fares and providing a £100 council-tax rebate, alongside promises of more substantial changes.

Burnham is also preparing a 10-year programme intended to end what he describes as “40 years of neoliberalism”. It is expected to contain broader measures, including putting utilities under public control. He said this week that publication could slip into next year, rather than taking place next month as originally expected.