Prime minister Gordon Brown has said public sector workers earning above £150,000 per year will have to justify their salaries in the future to set a new culture of openness.
Addressing the Royal Society in London on 7 December, Brown said those receiving over-generous public sector pay would be "named and shamed".
He said: "Money which should be spent on health, on schools, on policing and on social services is, in some cases, going on excessive salaries and unjustified bonuses, far beyond the expectation of the majority of workers. This culture of excess must change and will change."
New jobs in the public sector with salaries above £150,000 will require approval from HM Treasury. Other civil servant and public sector manager roles will also have to be justified by the relevant Secretary of State.
Furthermore, Brown added a revised civil service compensation scheme was expected to save up to half a billion pounds over three years and provide fairer outcomes through a combination of removing expensive enhanced early retirement terms and cutting back on the redundancy payments made to higher-paid staff.