Salary history redaction is the removal of prior-earnings data from a recruitment file. Equality Act 2010 s.66 implies a sex equality clause into a contract, so anchoring a new offer to a candidate's previous, possibly unequal salary risks carrying that inequality forward. ACAS guidance discourages asking about salary history for the same reason, and the wider Gender Pay Gap Information Regulations 2017 push large employers to close historic gaps rather than perpetuate them through anchoring. anonym.plus marks wage figures and the names tied to them on your device, so the file holds no such anchor.
When this applies
A CV or form may volunteer past salaries the offer should not be anchored to, especially where a large employer is also reporting a gender pay gap under the 2017 Regulations. You strip those figures so prior earnings cannot shape a new package.
How anonym.plus handles it
- Open the file in anonym.plus on your device.
- Built-in OCR reads a scanned payslip or letter.
- The app marks wage figures and earnings fields.
- Confirm each marking and keep the role and skills.
- Black out the confirmed earnings data.
- Save the cleaned file locally.
What you need to provide
- The file (PDF, DOCX, scan, or TXT).
- An operator (Redact suits wage figures).
- Optional allow-list for the desired-salary field.
PII entity types detected
| Category | anonym.plus entity type | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Money | MONEY | 2023 salary £38,000 → [PAY] |
| Names | PERSON | applicant Cole → [APPLICANT] |
| Org | ORGANIZATION | prior employer → [EMPLOYER] |
| Financial | UK_BANK_NUMBER | payroll acct → [ACCOUNT] |
| Contact | EMAIL_ADDRESS | cole@example.co.uk → [EMAIL] |
| Location | LOCATION | prior town → [LOCATION] |
Compliance achieved
- Reflects the sex equality clause in Equality Act 2010 s.66, which anchoring can undermine.
- Follows ACAS guidance discouraging salary-history questions in recruitment.
- Sits alongside the reporting duty in the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017 for larger employers.
- Offline work keeps wage figures off any server.
Anonymise files with salary history offline — see plans & start free →
Limitations & cautions
There is no outright UK ban on asking about salary history, but s.66, ACAS guidance, and equal-pay risk all discourage it. The app removes earnings data; it does not give pay-policy advice. Set offers against the role and market with HR.
Frequently asked questions
How does s.66 connect to salary-history anchoring?
The equality clause it implies into a contract can be undermined if a new offer simply carries forward a candidate's previous, unequal pay. Removing the figure avoids setting an offer against a number that may already reflect an unlawful gap.
Do the pay-gap regulations apply to this file directly?
The 2017 Regulations require larger employers to report a workforce-wide gap, not to police one hire's file, but the same policy goal, not perpetuating past inequality, is why stripping an individual salary history matters too.
Can I keep a desired-pay field?
Yes. Allow-list expectations, which look forward, and remove past figures that can carry an unequal history.