Employers will be legally required to publish salaries in their job adverts. The government confirmed the plan on 5 November 2026 and is urging businesses to ‘say what you pay’ now, before the law changes.
Here is what has been announced, what is still undecided, and how to prepare. It matters to every business that recruits, and the biggest risk is closer to home: once you publish what a role pays, your existing staff can compare it with what they earn. Our employment law solicitors for employers can help.
What is the new salary transparency law?
The government plans to make it a legal requirement for all employers to include salary information in their job adverts. Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced the ‘say what you pay’ plan on 5 November 2026.
It follows the government’s consultation on equal pay and pay discrimination, which closed on 27 October 2026. This proposed that employers publish pay information in every job advert or, where there is no advert, give it to candidates in writing before the interview. The government’s early analysis shows 94% of respondents backed the requirement, including 93% of businesses.
CIPD research on pay transparency published in 2024 found that only 41% of employers always include a salary range in external job adverts, and just 18% always state a specific salary.
When will employers have to publish salaries in job adverts?
No start date has been set. The government says it will legislate ‘as soon as possible’, with the detail to follow ‘in due course’. The consultation proposed setting the detail in regulations and said the government would seek an extended implementation period. The rules are intended to apply in England, Scotland and Wales.
Starting now makes sense anyway: it gives you time to fix problems before publishing becomes compulsory.
What pay information will job adverts need to include?
What job adverts must include is still to be decided. The consultation asked whether employers should publish a pay range, a specific salary or a benchmark rate, and whether benefits beyond basic salary should be included. The government wants to avoid new reporting requirements, but our view is that vague wording such as ‘competitive salary’ is unlikely to survive. Plan to state a genuine figure or range for every role.
What does salary transparency mean for equal pay?
Equal pay is where the real risk lies. Publishing what a new role pays also tells your current workforce what it pays.
Imagine you advertise for a production team leader at £34,000 to £37,000. One of your existing team leaders has done the job for five years and earns £31,000. Once the advert goes live, she will want to know why. If a male colleague in the same role earns more, you will need a clear answer backed by evidence.
A pay gap is not automatically unlawful. You can defend a difference in pay for equal work if it is genuinely due to a ‘material factor’ that is not itself discriminatory, such as experience or market rates. But you will need to prove it, and the government expects published salaries to help ‘expose unjustified differences in pay’.
Staff can already compare notes. Under section 77 of the Equality Act 2010, a pay secrecy clause cannot be enforced to stop an employee discussing pay to find out whether it is linked to sex, race or another protected characteristic, and doing so is protected from victimisation.
How can employers prepare for salary transparency now?
Practical steps include:
- Review pay data – compare pay for people doing the same or similar work and record the reasons for any differences. An equal pay audit is the most thorough way to do this.
- Set ranges you can justify – agree a range for each role and the criteria that decide where a new starter sits.
- Stop relying on salary history – it can carry past inequalities into your business.
- Update recruitment documents – including advert templates, policies and procedures and briefings for recruitment agencies.
- Prepare your managers – give anyone who sets pay employment law training, and agree how you will answer staff questions about pay.
Fixing a pay gap now is usually far cheaper than defending an equal pay claim later.
Frequently asked questions about salary transparency
Do employers have to include the salary in a job advert now?
No. There is no legal requirement yet in Great Britain. The government has committed to legislate but has not set a date.
Will the salary transparency law apply to small businesses?
The consultation proposed applying it to all employers, whatever their size. The final scope will be confirmed in the legislation.
Can employers still ask candidates about their current salary?
Yes, for now. However, the Equality and Human Rights Commission has urged the government to ban questions about salary history and pay expectations, so it makes sense to phase them out.
How we can help
Laura Kearsley is a Partner in our Employment Law team with over 20 years’ experience advising on employment law. Laura has a strong reputation in all aspects of employment law, including Employment Tribunal litigation, discipline and grievance issues, and unfair and constructive unfair dismissal claims.
If you have any queries on the above subject, please contact Laura or another member of the team on 0800 024 1976 or via our online enquiry form for practical advice.
Contact us