Companies Told To Publish Gender Pay Gap

Firms with 250 or more employees will have to publish their gender pay gap under measures being announced by the Government to tackle inequality.

The plans will also see league tables being launched giving details of companies that are failing to address the problem.

However the CBI warned against a "name and shame" approach which it argued would only give a partial picture.

Ministers are launching the policy alongside plans to ensure that thousands more girls study maths, engineering, science and technology at school.

David Cameron tweeted: "Increased transparency leaves nowhere for gender inequality to hide and underscores our pledge to end the gender pay gap in a generation."

Women and equalities minister Nicky Morgan said the Government wanted to secure "real equality" and reduce the gap in pay between men and women.

"In recent years we've seen the best employers make ground-breaking strides in tackling gender inequality.

"But the job won't be complete until we see the talents of women and men recognised equally and fairly in every workplace."

A £500,000 package of help was announced to help the 8,000 employers that will have to publish their average pay and bonus gap between male and female employees.

The first league table will be published in 2018, making it possible for women to compare pay in different sectors.

But TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said it was a step in the right direction but a "much bolder approach" was needed and it was disappointing the pay gap details would not have to be published until 2018.

"It is a real shame that bosses won't be made to explain why pay gaps exist in their workplaces and what action they will take to narrow them," she said.

The TUC said it was "shocking" that the gender pay gap was still over 19% for all workers and 9.4% for full-time employees, adding that at the current rate of progress it would take almost 50 years to close it.

But CBI director-general Carolyn Fairbairn said: "League tables should not be used to name and shame firms, as data will only be able to present a partial picture, particularly given factors such as the mix of part-time and full working and sectoral differences.

"Where reporting can be useful is as a prompt for companies to ask the right questions about how they can eradicate the gender pay gap.

"The Government should consult closely with business to ensure that this new legislation helps close the gender pay gap, rather than ending up as a box-ticking exercise."