The Competition and Markets Authority has backed government plans to require employers to publish salary information when advertising jobs, while recommending safeguards intended to preserve competition and flexibility in pay negotiations.
In a response published on 10 November, the regulator supported making salary disclosure a standard part of recruitment but warned that the requirements should be designed carefully to avoid unintended effects on competition between employers.
The Competition and Markets Authority identified two potential approaches: requiring businesses to advertise a binding minimum salary or allowing a salary range with a binding lower limit and an indicative upper figure.
Both would provide applicants with more reliable information about the pay available while retaining some flexibility for individual negotiations.
The recommendations follow the government’s commitment to introduce legislation requiring employers to publish salary information in job advertisements.
Under the announced plans, businesses recruiting without a formal advertisement would instead have to provide the salary information in writing before the candidate’s interview.
Ministers have not yet specified when the requirement will become law. The government intends to bring forward legislation when parliamentary time permits.
Employers are therefore not currently subject to the proposed new statutory disclosure requirement, although they can publish salary information voluntarily.
Pay transparency gains government backing —
The government’s commitment follows a consultation on equal pay and pay discrimination that ran from 14 July to 27 October.
Early analysis of responses found that 94% supported mandatory salary disclosure, including 93% of employers who participated.
Government research also indicated that fewer than half of employers, 41%, always include salary ranges in job advertisements, while only 18% consistently publish specific salary figures.
The proposed legislation is intended to reduce the uncertainty experienced by candidates who currently apply for positions without knowing whether the available remuneration meets their expectations.
Ministers also want to address pay discrimination by providing applicants with clearer information before discussions about individual salaries begin.
For businesses, publishing remuneration information could change how recruitment campaigns are prepared and approved.
Human resources departments and hiring managers may need to establish formal salary ranges before vacancies are advertised, particularly where decisions about starting pay have traditionally been left until later in the recruitment process.
The change could also prompt employers to review differences between advertised salaries and the remuneration of existing employees performing comparable work.
Competition regulator recommends flexibility —
Although the CMA supports the principle of greater transparency, it has advised ministers to consider how the information made public could affect recruitment markets.
Employers compete to attract workers, and salaries are an important part of that competition.
Publishing remuneration information can help candidates compare opportunities, but regulations specifying how salaries must be presented could also influence how businesses establish their pay structures.
The regulator has therefore proposed a binding minimum salary as one possible approach.
Under that model, employers would disclose a figure below which they could not offer the position, while retaining the ability to agree a higher salary with an individual candidate.
The alternative would permit a salary range with a binding lower figure and an indicative upper limit.
That arrangement would communicate the expected level of remuneration without necessarily preventing employers from negotiating a higher amount to reflect a candidate’s experience or skills.
The CMA considers these options capable of improving information for jobseekers while protecting competition and the ability of businesses to negotiate pay.
Recruitment practices could change —
The proposals have implications for employers recruiting staff across different roles, locations, and levels of experience.
Businesses frequently establish remuneration through a combination of approved budgets, internal pay structures, market conditions, and individual negotiations.
A statutory disclosure requirement would introduce greater visibility into those decisions before recruitment begins.
It could also make salary differences more apparent to existing employees, increasing the importance of consistent and properly documented remuneration policies.
The proposed legislation forms part of a wider government programme addressing equal pay and employment opportunities, including plans to strengthen protections against discrimination.
The CMA’s submission does not determine the final legislative design. Ministers must still decide which disclosure model to adopt and how any requirements will be enforced.
For now, the government’s commitment establishes the direction of policy, while the regulator’s recommendations identify how greater transparency could be introduced without unnecessarily limiting competition between employers.
