​City hall is one step closer to removing some of the guesswork from the way Winnipeg discloses public-servant salaries.

Council's executive policy committee voted unanimously Wednesday morning to approve a motion to improve the transparency of the city's annual compensation disclosure, which lists payouts to all employees who earn more than $50,000 a year in salaries and benefits.

St. James-Brooklands Coun. Scott Gillingham authored the motion in July, in the wake of questions about a $567,000 payout in 2015 to former acting chief administrative officer Deepak Joshi. The city could not break down his compensation due to what human resources staff called privacy issues.

Right now, the city displays compensation as a single lump sum. Along with lacking a breakdown of severance, benefits and regular salaries, this leads to questions about why some city employees appear to make vastly more money than others in the same job classification.

The motion, which still needs council approval later this month, would break down compensation into different categories.

"This is something that's exactly in keeping with the greater openness and transparency that we're showing at city hall," Mayor Brian Bowman said following the meeting.