According to founders Kate Merritt and Laura Braithwaite, failing to list salaries on job adverts and asking a candidate’s salary history are two processes that uphold inequality and slow the pace of change, especially for those who’ve been historically underpaid, mainly women and those from underrepresented groups.

A recent survey by the Fawcett Society found that 80% of jobseekers feel uncomfortable or extremely uncomfortable when a potential employer asks them about their current salary. 61% say it impacts their confidence to negotiate and over 90% agree that it’s an unfair way to determine what they should be paid in a new role.

“Do we wait for legislation or become leaders of change? At Liberty Hive, it became increasingly clear that as leaders of a talent business, we had a choice: we could be part of the problem or a part of the solution,” say Merritt and Braithwaite. “Every role we post will have a salary range guide, we won’t ask our candidates the salary history question and we will work with our agency partners to share best inclusive recruitment practice. We will leverage our platform to advocate for change.”

The Great Salary Reset: a new campaign is trying to make it a legal requirement to list salary details on job adverts