Firms 'should close gender pay gap'

A survey by the Fawcett Society and Unison showed massive support for new laws requiring employers to conduct pay audits, and to take action if differences in rates for men and women were found.

The poll of 1,000 adults also revealed that half of men and a third of women were unaware of the 17% gender pay gap for full time workers.

Campaigners have dubbed today Equal Pay Day, arguing that women effectively worked for nothing for the rest of the year because of the difference in pay.

The report showed that the highest gender pay gap in the UK was in West Somerset at 52%, compared with just 1.5% in parts of London.

The highest gender pay gap in Scotland was in the Shetland Islands at 31%, in Wales it was in Denbighshire (25%), while the figure for Northern Ireland was 9.5%, said the study.

Ceri Goddard, chief executive of the Fawcett Society, said: "Today women will effectively receive their last pay cheque of the year. As a result of the 17.1% full-time gender pay gap, October 30 marks the point in the year when women across Britain can be said to be working for free.

"We cannot afford to let this continue. Government must face the fact that equal pay law isn't working.

"With one in three employment discrimination claims being for unequal pay, and cases taking up to 10 years to complete, the tribunal system is at breaking point. On top of that, last year the gender pay gap even got wider.

"The Equality Bill offers a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reform equal pay law and stamp out the pay gap.

"We urge the Government to place a legal duty on employers to check for and rectify any gender pay gaps - a measure supported by the vast majority of the British public.

"Women were promised equal pay nearly 40 years ago when the Equal Pay Act was passed. It's time to finally make good on that pledge."

Dave Prentis, general secretary of Unison said: "Forty years after the Equal Pay Act, it is a disgrace that women still earn 17.1% less than men, and Britain has fallen to 78th in the world's pay inequality league, behind such countries as Egypt, Malawi, Tajikistan and Malaysia.

"The Government must toughen up the Equality Bill. The bill is a once in a generation chance to make equal pay a reality for women, so it is vital that we get it right.

"Unison wants to see the bill contain mandatory equal pay audits to expose employers who are not treating women fairly."