Say what you pay: employers to be forced to put salaries on job ads, says Burnham

Employers will be forced to publish salaries on job adverts, Andy Burnham has announced, in an effort to empower both employees and jobseekers.

The prime minister said his government would bring in a legal requirement for companies to say what they pay when listing new jobs, which campaigners say will help young people and women in particular achieve more equal pay.

Burnham said the move would help deal with the frustration of applying for a job without knowing the salary, while officials say that publicising pay will help those in work know if they are being paid fairly in comparison with others.

The prime minister said: “Whether you’re a young person starting out or a parent trying to support your family, you should know what a job pays before spending your time and effort applying for it. That’s why we will make it a legal requirement for all employers to say what you pay.

“But breaking down barriers is only one part of the job. We also need businesses to open more doors and give young people the experience and confidence to take that first step into the world of work.”

Paul Nowak, the general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, said: “Anyone who’s searched for a job knows how frustrating it is to read ‘competitive salary’.”

Burnham has spent much of his first few months in power announcing a series of “small fixes” to help improve people’s daily lives, while promising more radical change to come. The changes have included removing VAT from electricity bills, reducing bus fares and a £100 council tax rebate announced at the budget.

The prime minister is working on a 10-year plan for ending what he calls “40 years of neoliberalism”, which is expected to include more fundamental reforms such as bringing utilities under public control. He said this week the plan could be delayed until next year, having originally been expected next month.

Ministers first consulted in July on a series of moves to improve how existing equal pay laws work. That document also proposed greater equality protections for disabled people and ethnic minorities, but ministers have not yet set out their final plans on those points.

They have promised further policy changes to help young people into work in response to a review by the former minister Alan Milburn in the coming weeks.

Recent research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development found less than half of employers always published salaries ranges on job adverts, while less than a fifth always published specific salaries.

Experts say omitting pay details from job adverts makes it harder for young people to know which jobs to apply for, and makes it easier for employers to give lower pay offers to some candidates, including women.

The government said 93% of businesses responded positively to the consultation. Ministers have not yet decided exactly what information will have to be published, which size of company will have to comply, or how it will be enforced.