Businesses may have to reveal their gender pay data following a bill passed in the House of Commons yesterday.
The Equal Pay (transparency) bill, will provide the government with more power to request pay data under the 2010 Equalities act. Firms with more than 250 employees will have to publish data for male and female staff including discrepancies between the rates of pay.
An October report by the World Economic Forum revealed the UK has dropped from 9thto 26thplace in the gender equality rankingssince 2006, with women seeing their average pay fall by £2,700 during that period.
The bill was brought by Sarah Champion, Labour MP for Rotherham.
She said: “It is not about “naming and shaming” companies, but rather making them focus on the reasons behind any gender pay gap that exists.
“Pay transparency places the responsibility on employers to be actively conscious of the law on equal pay.”
The bill was passed with a majority of 250 – only seven politicians voted against the move and one MP abstained.
