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Firms may have to publish staff salaries

27/04/2009

Firms may be required to publish the salaries of their staff, under the terms of the Equalities Bill announced today.

By producing gender pay audits, companies would then make it clear if they paid their female staff the same as their male counterparts.

The legislation affects companies with more than 250 staff and will help "narrow the gap between rich and poor", the government claims.

Harriet Harman, minister for women and equality, says even though much progress has been made, more needs to be done to improve equality in the workplace.

The Bill, she says, "will make Britain a more equal place, and help us build a stronger economy and fairer society for the future".

"The Equality Bill will work hand in hand with our welfare reforms to ensure everyone, whether disabled or non-disabled, young or older, is given the opportunity to make a full contribution to society," Ms Harman explained.

Today's act replaces nine earlier pieces of legislation and almost 100 other measures. It has also been warmly welcomed by employment unions.

The Trades Union Congress' general secretary, Brendan Barber, said: "The UK will never tackle the problem of unequal pay until there are systems in place exposing the huge gap between what men and women doing similar jobs in the same workplaces are paid."

 

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