There is nothing worse than when you’re on the job hunt and find a role that you think you’ll be perfect for - only to later find out it doesn’t meet your salary expectations.
The good news is that this will hopefully become a thing of the past, as the European Union plans to make it a requirement for job listings to include a salary.
A briefing on the European Parliament website said: “Equal pay for equal work is one of the European Union's founding principles, enshrined in Article 157 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).
“However, the implementation and enforcement of this principle remain a challenge.
“Due to a lack of pay transparency, pay discrimination often goes undetected and victims face difficulties in making a claim for redress.”
The process started last March, with the European Commission adopting a legislative proposal on binding pay transparency measures.
The aim of this is to squash pay gaps between men and women through transparency and enforcement measures.
It will also allow potential employees to understand the job’s rate of pay, as phrases like “a salary in line with the market” or “based on the candidate” will no longer be permitted.
Vacancy listings on sites such as Indeed or LinkedIn could therefore be required to have a clear and concrete amount or a scale with the minimum and maximum amount a candidate can expect.
However, a statement from the European Council said: “Employers also need to indicate the initial pay level or range to be paid to future workers – either in the job vacancy notice or prior to the conclusion of the employment contract.”
Some have pointed out that this means that employers may avoid including salary information in listings as a result.
The change will also ensure that mandatory training for candidates is free of charge, with the employer covering the costs.
The exact details of this bill have yet to be worked out, but a draft report is expected in March 2022, with the directive potentially coming into play later this year.
