Treasury secretary blasts 'unfair' practice of firms not listing salary on job adverts, as Burnham moves to introduce 'say what you pay' law

Treasury secretary James Murray has blasted the "unfair" practice of firms not listing salary on job adverts, as the Government moves to make it law for businesses to include pay information. Andy Burnham has said employers will be made to say how much they are prepared to pay new hires. Legislation is expected to be brought forward, requiring employers to include salary information in their job adverts. Research by the CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) has previously found 41 per cent of employers always included salary information in their job adverts.

Around 27 per cent of employers never included salary information, according to the 2023 survey of 832 decision-makers who have hiring responsibilities. Read more: Employers will be forced to tell applicants expected salaries, as equalities secretary tells LBC move will help close gender pay gap Read more: King Charles is 'fully open' to Commonwealth realms removing him as head of state "It is unfair," Paymaster General James Murray told Nick Ferrari, adding that the Government wants to make it common practice among businesses.

"When people are looking for job adverts and deciding what to apply for, it shouldn't be a guessing game about what the pay is. "It can be really frustrating for people applying for jobs when they don't know what the pay on offer is. "It can discourage young people from applying for jobs when they can't see a wage or a salary or even a pay range, and it also contributes to the gender pay gap as well." Labour ministers have faced criticism for their handling of the jobs market, with 13 per cent of 16 to 24-year-olds not in education, employment or training (Neet) in April to June this year.

Earlier in the year, between January and March, the number of Neets aged 16-24 topped a million for the first time since 2013. A review into young people and work, carried out by former Labour health secretary Alan Milburn, is due to conclude later this month. In the wider jobs market, the number of vacancies fell by an estimated 21,000, to 691,000, in the three months to September, data from the Office for National Statistics shows. Mr Murray told LBC that listing salaries will level the playing field between men and women in the workplace, as it will help women know whether their male colleagues are earning more.

He said: "Let's say a man and a woman are both applying for the same job and there is a gender pay gap already in existence, if the employer says, 'what's your current salary?', it perpetuates that pay gap, rather than having a level playing field of having a salary or a pay range being put forward on the job advert itself."