Equality watchdog urges ban on salary-history questions and mandatory pay disclosure

The Equality and Human Rights Commission says employers must not be permitted to inquire about a job seeker's salary history, warning that such questions can carry existing pay inequities into new roles. Instead, it proposes that firms be obliged to reveal how much their current employees earn. The watchdog urges the government to give legal force to a statutory pay questionnaire that would let workers obtain pay-gap information before filing claims.

It also backs the government's draft reforms, including mandatory salary details in job adverts and a new enforcement unit, but stresses that additional funding is needed for the unit to be effective. Research cited by the Fawcett Society shows that a majority of both women and men feel salary-history queries have led to lower offers. The commission sees these steps as an opportunity to simplify and improve the equal-pay system for both workers and employers.