Employers will have to publish salary information in job adverts under government plans to rewrite anti-discrimination laws.
Details of other job conditions could also have to be disclosed to candidates, under the draft proposals.
Ministers argue greater transparency will help people navigate the jobs market and could prevent future pay discrimination claims.
However, details of exactly what salary information will have to be shared are yet to be hammered out.
Officials plan to consult on whether exact salaries will have to be displayed, or potentially a pay range or “benchmark rate” for open roles.
They also plan to ask industry groups whether information beyond basic salary, such as bonuses, should be made available.
Employers that do not publish a job advert for a role would have to give candidates the information in writing prior to a job interview.
In a policy document, the Cabinet Office said salary information would help jobseekers make informed application decisions, and improve the hiring process for companies by weeding out candidates with “misaligned pay expectations”.
Citing various academic studies, it also said transparency would help prevent “unequal outcomes” when salaries are offered to successful applicants.
“When pay is opaque, salary decisions can be influenced by stereotypes – such as stereotypes of women, ethnic minorities, or disabled people,” it added.
Salary ranges
Although pay transparency is not currently mandatory in the UK, there has been an increasing trend in recent years for employers to disclose information voluntarily.
Previous research by the CIPD, an industry body for human resources managers, has found the practice is much more widespread in public bodies and charities than the private sector, while pay ranges were more common than specific salaries.
But it has cautioned that employers disclosing information are not always “fully transparent”, with ranges sometimes wider than £10,000.
The proposals echo pay transparency proposals being rolled out across the European Union.
Large employers in Europe of more than 100 workers will have to disclose the initial pay or range for new roles, which must either included in a published job advert or shared before an interview.
They will also be banned from asking candidates about their salary history – something that does not feature in the Cabinet Office consultation.
The Cabinet Office says it intends for its proposals to apply in England, Wales and Scotland, with the exact terms set out in legislation following a consultation with industry ending in October.
The rights watchdog for Northern Ireland has previously argued that the new EU pay transparency rules should apply in the province under the terms of the Windsor Framework deal signed under prime minister Rishi Sunak.
The Northern Ireland Executive has previously declined to say whether it planned to follow the EU rules. The BBC has asked whether it is planning new rules in Northern Ireland in light of the new proposals for Great Britain.
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