Burnham announces mandatory salary disclosure for UK job ads
The prime minister said a legal requirement will force employers to state pay on job adverts.
At a glance
- Andy Burnham announced that UK employers will be forced to publish salaries on job adverts.
- The plan aims to help jobseekers know pay before applying and address equal pay concerns.
- Ministers have not decided how the salary requirement will be enforced or which employers must comply.
Andy Burnham, the UK prime minister, has announced that UK employers will be forced to publish salaries on job adverts, following a government consultation in July, according to the government.
The move is intended to empower employees and jobseekers by helping them know what a job pays before applying. Burnham said the government would bring in a legal requirement for companies to state what they pay when listing new jobs. He said people should know what a job pays before spending time and effort applying, and said he understood the frustration of job ads that only mention a “competitive salary”.
Officials said publicising pay would help workers know if they were being paid fairly in comparison with others. Campaigners, including the Trades Union Congress, said the plan would help young people and women in particular achieve more equal pay.
Paul Nowak, the TUC general secretary, said jobseekers often found the phrase “competitive salary” frustrating. Experts said research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development found less than half of employers always published salary ranges, while less than a fifth always published specific salaries. They said omitting pay details made it harder for young people to know which jobs to apply for and made it easier for employers to offer lower pay, including to women.
Burnham has spent much of his first months in power announcing small fixes, including removing VAT from electricity bills, reducing bus fares and providing a £100 council-tax rebate. He is working on a 10-year plan to end what he calls “40 years of neoliberalism”, expected to include bringing utilities under public control.
Ministers first consulted in July on moves to improve equal pay laws. A document also proposed greater equality protections for disabled people and ethnic minorities, but final plans have not been set out. The government said 93% of businesses responded positively to the consultation. Ministers have not decided what information must be published, which size of company must comply, or how it will be enforced.
Source: The Guardian.
Questions and answers
- Will UK employers be required to publish salaries on job ads?
- Yes, according to Andy Burnham, the UK prime minister, who announced a legal requirement for employers to state pay when listing jobs.
- Why is the UK government making salary disclosure mandatory?
- It says the move will help employees and jobseekers know what a job pays and help address unequal pay.
- When will employers have to publish salaries?
- Ministers have not yet decided exactly what information must be published, which companies must comply, or how it will be enforced.
