Data shows many firms 'paying male employees more than female employees'

Data published by the government’s Equalities Office has revealed that a vast majority of UK firms are paying male employees more than their female employees. The statistics showed that around 1,000 businesses have published their gender pay gap so far, but a further 8,000 are yet to do so. Taking hourly earnings into account, the data revealed that, of the businesses that have published their gender pay gap data, 908 are paying their male employees more than their female employees. 143 are paying female workers more, the Equalities Office found. 30 firms stated that there is no difference in the levels of pay between their male and female employees. New rules introduced from 6 April 2017 mean that large businesses are required by law to publish their gender pay gap figures on their website. The government hopes that, by publishing this data, employers will be able to address any gaps within their firm, and take action to close them. Voluntary and private sector employers with 250 employees or more must publish their figures by 4 April 2018. Public sector employers must publish their figures by 30 March 2018. Commenting on the issue of gender pay gap reporting, Charles Cotton, Senior Performance and Reward Adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), said: ‘Some businesses may be concerned about reputational issues, which may be holding them back from reporting early. ‘They may be hoping that by waiting until the deadline and submitting at the same time as others that their results will get lost in the crowd.’

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