The Government might force your company to reveal salaries on job ads

The Government is planning to rewrite legislation that would force companies to publish salary information on job adverts – a move that would bring the UK in line with the EU, where a new directive already requires member states to disclose salary ranges. 

In an already tough job market, the government argues that pay transparency rules are one of the most effective ways to close the gap between genders, while campaigners agree that being up-front about salaries prevents both candidates and recruiters from wasting time. 

Not everyone is convinced, though. In Jersey, business owners are complaining that mandatory salary disclosure could pile on red tape at a time when firms are trying to cut costs and simplify operations.

Failing to disclose salaries on job ads fuels discrimination, says the Government

Data from Adzuna has revealed that nearly 6 in 10 UK job vacancies hide key pay details. 

For many candidates, this has turned searching for a new role into a guessing game – with job seekers left hanging on to vague phrases like “competitive salary” and “mid-to-senior level” to gauge whether a role is even worth applying for.

Now, the Government is considering putting an end to this with new legislation, as part of a wider push to lower discrimination in the workplace. Under the proposed rules, companies could be legally required to publish exact salaries or a pay range on every job advert, giving candidates clarity into what they can expect to earn.

According to the Government, pay secrecy is one of the key barriers standing in the way of closing the gender pay gap. Ministers argue that when salaries stay hidden, unfair pay differences between men and women can go unnoticed and unchallenged for years.

The UK wouldn’t be breaking new ground, though. Since 2023, the EU has required all of its member states to disclose salary ranges in job ads as part of its Pay Transparency Directive, and Austria has been enforcing strict pay transparency since 2011. 

However, while the mandate may seem like a no-brainer for applicants, according to many UK businesses, the issue isn’t black and white.

The case for and against pay transparency: does it pay off for businesses?

For businesses advertising job roles, there are clear incentives for being transparent about pay. Being honest from the get-go can build trust between employers and employees. 

For example, Simon Soar, director of music venue The Sundown, told the BBC that publishing salaries and benefits on his job ads has helped with staff retention and attracted more applicants, “because they know what they’re applying for.”

There is data to back this up too, with research from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) revealing that 70% of businesses reported posting salary ranges led to more people applying for their job postings, and 66% saying it improved the quality of the candidates applying. 

Yet, for many business owners, the reality is more complicated. David Warr, owner of Cooper & Co coffee bars, warned that mandatory disclosure risked bringing “more bureaucracy at a time when efforts are being made to cut red tape”. He told the BBC he’s already happy to discuss pay directly with candidates who ask, without it needing to be a legal requirement.

There’s also a concern that displaying an exact salary could cause an upset for existing staff members. “Employers don’t want to publicise how much they pay, in part, because it’s going to create resentment among organisational members,” Eddy Ng, the Smith Professor of Equity and Inclusion in Business at Queen’s University, Canada, told the BBC.

Ultimately, the debate doesn’t centre around whether transparency is a good thing in principle; the real question is whether legislation is the right way to get there

How businesses can prepare, even before it’s mandatory

While the Government’s pay transparency legislation is still very much up for debate, there are clear incentives for businesses to reveal salaries in job listings, without it being enshrined in law.

If you haven’t landed on a number or range, start by benchmarking roles against similar positions in your industry and region using tools like Glassdoor, LinkedIn, or PayScale.

Rather than publishing a single figure, consider posting a realistic pay range that accounts for factors like experience, qualifications, and seniority. Doing so will give candidates clarity, without boxing them into one single number. 

It could also be worth doing an audit of existing pay structures. Do a recce of your current employees’ salaries, and address any pay gaps internally – specifically among genders – before advertising it publicly. By doing this, you won’t be caught off guard by any awkward questions further down the line. 

Finally, it’s important to be consistent. Once a pay range is public, be ready to explain to candidates and existing staff why someone might sit at the bottom or top of it.

By taking these simple actions, you can get ahead of the curve whether or not the Government’s legislation makes it into law, while positioning your business in a better place to attract and keep the right talent.