The job interview question you don't have to answer
Experts explain what you should do if you are asked for your current salary during a job interview.
**The job interview question you don't have to answer**
You can prepare as much as you want, but there is often still one interview question that makes you uneasy.
In the UK, employers are allowed to ask how much you earn in your current job, but applicants do not have to answer.
Recruiters have been urged to stop asking about salary history, and in the EU, new rules will stop them from doing so.
But in the UK, it can still come up, so what is the best way to respond?
When hiring or interviewing for new staff, employers must not discriminate against applicants on the basis of protected characteristics, including age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation.
Money can feel like a subject both interviewers and candidates try to skirt around.
But Louise Rudd, a senior adviser at the workplace advice and conciliation service Acas, says there are no rules stopping employers from asking interviewees about their current pay or their salary expectations.
She says that if employers do want to know, they should ask every applicant the same questions so that everyone is treated fairly.
A few years ago, a campaign was launched calling on employers to stop asking new hires how much they had been paid in previous jobs. It had its own hashtag: #EndSalaryHistory.
The Fawcett Society, which campaigns for women and gender equality, said the question could help preserve long-standing unfair pay gaps linked to gender, race and disability inequality.
The society said that instead of setting pay based on skills, experience and performance, employers were effectively rewarding a person’s perceived value and negotiating ability.
The Recruitment and Employment Confederation backed the campaign and urged recruiters not to ask.
Under new rules being introduced across the bloc, employers in the EU will be banned from asking about salary history.
But that is not included in Cabinet Office plans in the UK, which instead focus on requiring employers to publish salary details in job adverts.
If you are applying for a new job, you can disclose your current salary if you want to.
Some people asked by BBC News in London said they would give an inflated salary so they could be paid more in their next role. But the risks of lying in an interview can be much greater than any possible benefit.
You are under no obligation to reveal your salary if you do not want to.
Rudd says some people may prefer to give their salary expectations, or explain their understanding of the pay range for the role.
Recruitment firms often say applicants could instead emphasise their skills and experience, so those are used to judge what they should be paid rather than their salary history.
Shazia Ejaz, director of campaigns at the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, says jobseekers should handle pay questions with "realism but also confidence".
"Candidates can focus on showcasing the value they bring, the benefits that matter most to them and to go to the interview knowing the market rate for the role," she says.
"Jobseekers who have done their homework on salaries and can explain the contribution they will make are in the strongest position to secure the right package."