UK job applicants face no legal obligation to disclose their current salary during interviews, despite employer rights to ask the question.
While UK employers may legally request salary history information, applicants can refuse to answer. The EU has moved to ban the practice through new regulations across the bloc, but the UK has not followed suit. Instead, the UK Cabinet Office has focused on requiring employers to publish salary ranges in job advertisements.
Louise Rudd, a senior adviser at the workplace advice and conciliation service Acas, confirmed that no regulations prevent employers from asking about current or expected salary. However, she noted that employers should pose identical questions to all applicants to ensure fair treatment and avoid discrimination on protected grounds including age, disability, gender, race, religion, sex and sexual orientation.
The #EndSalaryHistory campaign, supported by the Fawcett Society and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, has urged employers to stop requesting salary history. The Fawcett Society argued that the practice perpetuates historic pay inequalities linked to gender, race and disability by basing offers on an applicant's previous compensation rather than skills, experience and performance.
Applicants who prefer not to disclose their salary have several alternatives. Rudd suggested offering salary expectations instead or outlining the market rate for the role based on independent research. Shazia Ejaz, director of campaigns at the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, advised jobseekers to "approach questions about pay with realism but also confidence" and to focus on "the value they bring" and their understanding of market rates.
Recruitment firms recommend that applicants redirect the conversation toward their skills and experience as the basis for compensation. Jobseekers who research market salaries and articulate their contribution are positioned most strongly to negotiate competitive packages.
Some applicants interviewed by BBC News suggested they would inflate salary figures to secure higher offers in new roles. However, lying during interviews carries significant risks that typically outweigh potential benefits.