---
title: Staff Could See How Close New Starters' Pay Is to Theirs Under UK Pay Transparency Plan
description: The UK consultation on publishing pay in all job adverts closes today, and fewer than half of HR leaders say their pay bands are ready to publish.
author: Darie Nani (Editor-in-Chief)
date: 2026-10-27T15:38:52.008Z
updated: 2026-10-27T15:38:52.028Z
canonical: https://www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/uk-pay-transparency-job-adverts-loyalty-penalty
image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/pexels-two-men-in-a-job-interview-setting-in-a-modern-office-with-l-5439368.jpg
categories: HR & Recruiting
content_type: News
region: United Kingdom
publication: Sovereign Magazine
schema_type: Article
---

Every employer in England, Scotland and Wales would have to publish pay information in its job adverts under a government proposal whose consultation closed on 27 October 2026. Where there is no advert, the employer would have to give the candidate the pay information in writing before the interview.

Job adverts are public, so existing staff would see the pay offered to new hires too, including anyone recruited into a role like theirs with less experience. When new-starter pay closes in on what longer-serving staff earn, the squeeze is known as pay compression. IRIS Software Group, an HR and payroll software provider whose software it says is used to pay one in six UK employees, calls it a "loyalty penalty".

"Salary transparency sounds like a recruitment issue, but its biggest impact could be on the people who already work for organisations," said Stephanie Kelly, Chief People Officer at IRIS.

> "If an employee with several years' experience sees their employer advertising for a new starter with less experience on almost the same salary, they are naturally going to question what their experience and additional responsibility are worth."
> — Stephanie Kelly, Chief People Officer, IRIS Software Group

IRIS commissioned Censuswide to survey 511 senior HR professionals and 500 employees who have been in full-time work for between two and five years, between 30 July and 5 August 2026. Of those employees, 37% said staff with a few years' experience should be paid more if the pay offered to new starters comes too close to theirs.

## The Advert Rule Is Not Yet Law and Has No Start Date

The job advert requirement is one of several proposals in the [equal pay and pay discrimination consultation](https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/equal-pay-and-pay-discrimination) published on 14 July by the Office for Equality and Opportunity. Gender pay gap reporting applies only to employers with 250 or more staff; the advert rule would apply to all employers.

The government would bring the requirement in through a delegated power, so that regulations can set the exact requirements later, for example the size of a salary range. The consultation asks whether employers should have to publish a pay range, a specific salary or a benchmark rate, and what other pay details or conditions would be proportionate. No start date has been set, and the government describes "a phased process and staggered implementation" for its wider reforms.

The government says it wants the requirement to involve "as little burden as possible for employers, avoiding new reporting requirements", and notes that most employers already publish pay ranges voluntarily. It argues that publishing pay in adverts encourages employers to evaluate job roles before they recruit, and saves time by filtering out candidates whose pay expectations do not match the job before the interview stage.

The same consultation proposes reinstating a statutory questionnaire procedure for pay discrimination cases, tougher measures for employers found to have committed pay discrimination, and an Equal Pay Regulatory and Enforcement Unit. It also seeks views on gaps in the current framework affecting disabled people, people from ethnic minority groups and outsourced workers.

## Fewer Than Half of HR Leaders Say Their Pay Bands Are Ready to Publish

In the IRIS survey, 89% of HR leaders described their organisation as at least mostly prepared for salary-publishing rules. Only 43% said their pay bands and ranges are ready to publish, and 11% said their organisation is not prepared. More than one in five (22%) said their HR systems and workforce data cannot compare advertised new-starter salaries with the pay of existing employees.

## Employees Want Pay Reviews and Explanations That Few Employers Plan to Offer

More than a third (36%) of the early-career employees surveyed want clearer pay differences between new starters and more experienced staff.

36% also want employers to review the salaries of existing staff in the same or similar roles before advertising a vacancy, but only 24% of HR leaders said their organisation plans such a review. Four in ten employees (39%) want employers to explain how experience, performance and responsibility affect pay, while 25% of HR leaders said their organisations plan to explain how starting salaries and progression are set. A third (33%) want the chance to request a pay review, and 21% of HR leaders said their organisation intends to offer one.

"Publishing the salary is the straightforward part," Kelly said. "Employers will also need to be able to explain why people are paid what they are, and stand behind those decisions."

## FAQ

**Q: What pay information could employers have to publish?**
The consultation asks whether employers should give a pay range, a specific salary or a benchmark rate, and what else would be proportionate to include. Its examples include salary, collective bargaining provisions, annual adjustments and other financial benefits.

**Q: What would the reinstated pay questionnaire let an employee ask?**
The consultation proposes bringing back a standard questionnaire, repealed in 2013, for pay discrimination disputes only. A worker could use it to ask their employer questions, before or after starting a claim, to identify a colleague to compare their pay with or to get details of pay components such as allowances or bonuses. Using it would be optional, but a court or tribunal could draw an inference if an employer failed to answer within a set time or gave an evasive answer.