Large businesses will be forced to publish details of the pay gap between male and female staff under new rules being forced through Westminster by the Liberal Democrats.
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has secured an amendment to the Small Business Bill, due to be debated in the House of Lords on Wednesday, which will fast-track Lib Dem manifesto plans for gender pay transparency within the next 12 month.
It is hoped the move boost pay equality because it will give women information to challenge employers if they feel under valued.
The Lib Dems see the amendment as a “significant win”. A party source said it was clear from this week’s discussions that the Tories wanted to delay taking any action as had happened over the past five years.
Mr Clegg said the amendment is being introduced after an initial voluntary approach to get companies to be more open, agreed at the beginning of the coalition government, failed to produce results.
“Whilst the Liberal Democrats have made real progress in areas like shared parental leave and extending the right to request flexible working, the labour market is still stacked against women,” he said.
“It simply cannot be acceptable that, in the twenty first century, women on average still receive a smaller pay packet than men.
“We can’t wait and we can’t dither. We need to sort this out now.”
The reporting requirement will apply to companies with more than 250 employees.
Jo Swinson, Minister for Employment and Women, said 40 years after the Equal Pay Act the market was still stacked against women.
“A woman is still paid on average 20% less than a man and less likely to be in a leadership role,” she said.
“We reject attitudes from people like Nigel Farage who say low pay for women is a ‘fact of life’ and we are doing this by taking action.
“There are 490 large Scottish businesses employing 633,000 people. Forcing large companies in Scotland to publish the difference between average pay of men and women will mean, for the first time, we will have public information on the gender pay gap.”