Salary Transparency: How Small Businesses Should Set Pay Ranges

A salary range in a job advert is a commitment about the role, the budget and the value the business expects. Before publishing one, a small employer should be able to explain it to both an applicant and the people already doing comparable work.

The government’s plans to require salary information in job adverts make this a timely decision. For an owner preparing to recruit, the useful work starts with agreeing what the business can afford and what would justify an offer at either end of the range.

What has been announced, and what remains undecided?

On 5 November 2026, the government announced plans for a “say what you pay” law requiring salary information in job adverts. The official announcement says legislation will be brought forward as soon as possible, with scope, required information, implementation and enforcement to follow.

As at 7 November 2026, that announcement does not provide a commencement date. Owners should distinguish preparing a better recruitment process from complying with a new rule already in force.

In its 6 November response, Holly Whitbread of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation highlights the importance of meaningful ranges and questions still to be resolved, including how bonuses, commission and temporary recruitment will be handled.

Why adding a number is only the beginning

Historical research helps explain the debate. The CIPD’s Pay, performance and transparency 2024 report, supported by ADP, drew on a survey of 832 UK HR professionals, reward professionals and senior decision-makers in October 2023. It found that 41% always shared salary ranges in external adverts. That is background evidence from 2023, not a measurement of current practice.

For a small firm, the more immediate issue is whether the advertised figure matches a real decision. An attractive upper limit achieves little if the owner would never authorise it. A vague role also makes it difficult to explain why one candidate should receive more than another.

I believe a useful pay range needs three things: an affordable ceiling, a clear description of the work, and understandable reasons for the starting offer. Without those, publishing a range may simply make an unresolved management problem visible.

Five checks before your next job advert

1. Define the work before deciding the range

Write down the responsibilities, hours, location and level of independence the business needs. Be specific about what successful delivery would look like after the initial learning period.

If you might hire either someone who needs substantial training or someone who can take responsibility immediately, explain that difference. Consider whether these are genuinely different levels of the role. An enormous range attached to an identical description gives applicants little help in judging where they fit.

2. Check the complete cost at the upper end

Build the budget around an offer the business could actually make. Include applicable employer National Insurance and pension costs, recruitment, equipment, training, management time and any necessary cover. Check that cash can support the role during its learning period.

If the ceiling only works when everything goes perfectly, reconsider the role or the hiring plan. The earlier article Should Your Small Business Recruit Now? explains how to assess whether recruitment is commercially justified.

3. Explain what changes the starting offer

Set criteria linked to the work: relevant capability, responsibility, qualifications where genuinely required, or the ability to work independently. Decide who can approve an offer and how the decision will be recorded.

Separate the starting range from potential future progression. Also distinguish guaranteed pay from commission, bonuses and benefits. A candidate should be able to understand the offer without discovering halfway through an interview that the headline depended on uncertain earnings.

These are practical recommendations for clarity. The detailed requirements of the proposed legislation remain to be published.

4. Review comparable roles in your existing team

Before publishing, compare the proposed role with work already being done. Differences in responsibilities, hours or relevant capabilities may explain differences in pay. Where the explanation is weak, review the position rather than improvising an answer after someone notices the advert.

A new vacancy can expose tension between the market price for a recruit and the pay of experienced colleagues. That deserves a considered response. Where the review raises equal pay or discrimination concerns, obtain appropriate employment advice before making decisions.

5. Use one approved description of the offer

Keep the advert, recruiter briefing and interview discussion consistent. Record the approved range, guaranteed and variable elements, and any conditions that affect the offer. Give everyone involved the same version.

For a small business without a formal HR team, a short approval record is often a practical starting point. Review it when the role changes rather than copying an old advert indefinitely.

A preparation record you can use

Before releasing an advert, complete these seven fields:

• Role: responsibilities, hours, location and expected independence.
• Approved range: the starting pay the business is prepared to offer.
• Offer criteria: what would justify different points within the range.
• Complete cost: the budget including relevant employment and operating costs.
• Internal comparison: comparable roles and any differences needing review.
• Approval: who owns the budget and signs off the wording.
• Review date: when the role and range should be reconsidered.

This is a management preparation tool. Check the final legislation and guidance when published before treating any process as legally compliant.

What growing a service business taught me

When I grew a network from one therapist to 19 across four counties, adding people did not automatically create suitable bookings or profit. Demand, geographical coverage, workable margins and clear service standards had to develop together. I described those lessons in Recruitment Is Not Growth.

The relevant lesson here is about defining a workable opportunity before inviting someone into it. For employee recruitment, that means being clear about the work, the resources behind it and the offer. A well written advert cannot compensate for a role the business has not properly designed.

Allow flexibility without making the offer vague

Small employers may reasonably need flexibility for different levels of experience. Clear responsibilities and starting criteria can preserve that flexibility while giving candidates useful information. Salary transparency will not, by itself, make a poorly designed role attractive or resolve every pay concern.

My recommendation is to prepare one vacancy properly now. Agree the range, test its affordability and review how you would explain it internally. Those decisions have value even while the legal detail is being developed.

If you need help connecting recruitment decisions with demand, capacity and margins, explore business growth support from Skills 2 Grow.

Sources and attribution: Policy information is from the government’s 5 November 2026 announcement. Recruitment industry observations are credited to Holly Whitbread and the REC, 6 November 2026. Historical survey findings are from CIPD’s 2024 report, supported by ADP. The operational recommendations and preparation record are Julian Frincu’s business analysis. Policy status checked on 7 November 2026.