Telford MP, Lucy Allan, has welcomed the announcement made by Nicky Morgan MP, Minister for Women and Equalities, outlining that from April 2017 firms with more than 250 employees will need to calculate the pay gap between male and female employees, ahead of the first tables being published in 2018.
Under the regulations private and voluntary organisations will be required to publish the number of men and women in each pay grade to show where the differential is widest. It is expected that around 8,000 employers will have to publish these figures.
Lucy questioned Nicky Morgan in Parliament on the pay gap in January 2016 when she flagged up that full time, hourly paid women in Telford were earning on average 16% less than their male counterparts.
Commenting on the proposals, Lucy said: “I’m pleased to see that Government is tackling this issue, especially as it is one that I have raised with the Minister recently. The Prime Minister has pledged to close the gender pay gap in a generation.
“By requiring companies to look at how staff are being paid and publishing the data we can shine a light on those who pay women less than men and push to ensure women to receive equal pay.”
Photgraph shows previous meeting of Lucy and the Network of Women