Firms told to publish salaries in job adverts ahead of new law

Previous research from the CIPD, external, an industry body for human resources managers, has indicated that the public sector and charities are more likely to reveal pay information that private firms, while pay ranges were more common than specific salaries.

But it found not all employers were "fully transparent", with pay ranges sometimes wider than £10,000.

CIPD chief executive Neil Carberry said that while, in principle, giving salary details was "a good thing", in practice it was "more complicated".

"There isn't always a single fixed figure, and employers will want to set pay based on a candidate's skills, experience and potential."