Key facts
- Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the government will make it a legal requirement for employers to state pay in job adverts.
- Ministers have not decided what information must be published, which company sizes must comply, or how it will be enforced.
- The government said 93% of businesses responded positively to the July consultation on equal pay laws.
- Research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development found less than half of employers always published salary ranges on job adverts.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on November 6, 2026 that his government will make it a legal requirement for employers to state pay when advertising jobs. He said the change would help employees and jobseekers, and officials say publicizing pay helps those in work know whether they are paid fairly compared with others.
Burnham 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." He added that businesses also need to open more doors and give young people experience and confidence.
Paul Nowak, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, said: "Anyone who's searched for a job knows how frustrating it is to read 'competitive salary'."
Ministers first consulted in July on 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 set out final plans on those points. The government said 93% of businesses responded positively to the consultation.
Ministers have not decided exactly what information will have to be published, which size of company will have to comply, or how it will be enforced. 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.
Research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development found less than half of employers always published salary ranges on job adverts, while less than a fifth always published specific salaries. Experts say omitting pay details 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.
Burnham has spent much of his first few months in power announcing a series of "small fixes", including removing VAT from electricity bills, reducing bus fares and a £100 council tax rebate announced at the budget. He is working on a 10-year plan for ending what he calls "40 years of neoliberalism", which he said this week could be delayed until next year, having originally been expected next month.