On 5 November 2026 the government said it will bring forward legislation as soon as possible to require salaries in job adverts, with scope, required information, implementation and enforcement still to be set out and no start date announced. GOV.UK quotes CIPD figures that 41% of employers always publish salary ranges and only 18% always publish specific salaries.
What the film covers
- The candidate who applied blind
- What was announced on 5 November 2026
- What is not decided
- What already applies to a restaurant advert today
- The minimum wage sets the floor under any figure
- Tips never count towards the minimum wage
- An advert must not state or imply discrimination
- An advertised range is not a secret from the existing team
Questions the film answers
- Do job adverts have to show salary in the UK?
The 5 November 2026 announcement presents the requirement as legislation the government will bring forward as soon as possible, with no bill and no date. It does not describe a duty already in force. The Prime Minister has asked businesses to publish pay now.
- When does the say what you pay law start?
No date announced. The government's release says details on scope, required information, implementation and enforcement will be set out in due course, and its Make Work Pay timeline, updated on 5 November 2026, does not list pay transparency in adverts as at 6 November 2026. Treat any start date quoted elsewhere as a guess until a bill or commencement order says otherwise.
- Can a restaurant write a range or "up to" in an advert?
Whether a range, a specific salary or a benchmark rate will be required is undecided, and so is how wide a range may be. Meanwhile the bottom of any range must not fall below the legal minimum for the age of the person hired.
- Can tips be included in the advertised hourly rate?
Not towards the minimum wage. GOV.UK says tips do not count towards the National Minimum Wage, and the statutory code says that since 2009 it has been illegal for tips to be used to count towards minimum wage pay. An advert can say tips are shared under a written policy, but should not add an estimated tip figure to the rate.
- What happens to my existing staff's pay when the advert shows a number?
A published rate becomes a reference point. Section 77 of the Equality Act 2010 makes a contract term that stops a worker disclosing pay information unenforceable where the disclosure is made to check whether pay connects with a protected characteristic.