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Employers to be forced to put salaries on job ads, Andy Burnham announces
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Prime Minister Andy Burnham says employers will be legally required to include pay details in job adverts, so applicants can know what a role pays before applying. Campaigners say greater transparency could help women and young people secure fairer pay, while also making it easier for employees to compare their salaries.
Research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development found that fewer than half of employers always publish salary ranges, and fewer than one in five always give a specific salary. The government says 93% of businesses responded positively to its consultation, but has yet to decide what pay information employers must provide, which companies will be covered or how the rule will be enforced.
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In short
- Employers will have to include pay details in job adverts.
- Fewer than one in five employers always publish specific salaries.
- The government has yet to set the rule’s scope or enforcement.
How this story developed
- 16 minutes ago Prime Minister Andy Burnham says employers will be legally required to include pay details in job adverts, so applicants can know what a role pays before applying.
Full account
Employers would have to state pay in job adverts under a legal requirement announced by Prime Minister Andy Burnham. The proposal is intended to let people judge whether a vacancy is worth applying for before they spend time on an application. The government also says greater openness about advertised pay could help existing staff assess whether their own wages are fair.
Workers’ rights campaigners argue that the change could particularly benefit young people, who may have little experience of negotiating pay, and women, who can be disadvantaged when salaries are set individually. Paul Nowak, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, welcomed the move, pointing to the frustration jobseekers face when an advert offers only a ‘competitive salary’. Research cited by both reports from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development found that fewer than half of employers always included a salary range in adverts, while fewer than one in five always gave a specific figure.
The announcement is among the smaller changes Burnham has put forward during his first months in office. The reports place it alongside measures including lower bus fares, the removal of VAT from electricity bills and a £100 council tax rebate. Burnham has also called for businesses to give young people more opportunities to gain experience and enter work. The salary proposal sets out a requirement to disclose pay, but the accounts supplied do not specify when it would take effect or what form of pay information employers would have to publish.
The broader direction of the government’s employment policy remains under development. Ministers consulted in July on changes to the operation of equal pay law, including possible stronger protections for disabled people and ethnic minorities, but have yet to announce final decisions on those proposals. Further measures aimed at helping young people into work are expected after a review by former minister Alan Milburn. Burnham is also preparing a wider ten-year programme of economic change, whose publication, according to the first report, may slip into next year.
Where outlets differ
From the full account, which is AI-written from the sources:
The two supplied accounts agree on the salary announcement, the reasons given for it and the cited employer research. Source 1 gives more detail on the equal pay consultation, the forthcoming youth employment review and the possible delay to Burnham’s wider plan. Source 2 presents the announcement in a live politics blog and also lists separate developments concerning the Chagos Islands, migration and EU student fees.
Coverage · 2 sources
Bias meters
From 2 rated sources.
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