Companies are rushing to publish their gender pay gaps today, as the deadline to report looms.
Public and private sector employers with 250 employees or more are required to reveal by midnight on Wednesday how much more or less male staff are paid compared with female staff.
By the government’s estimates, this applies to around 9,000 organisations. By mid-morning on deadline day, more than 9080 firms had reported, with more than 200 of those publishing between 8am and 10.30am.
However, it is unclear so far what actions the government is prepared to take if companies do not meet the deadline.
Baroness Susan Williams, the equalities minister, said this morning that the EHRC has “powers to make (firms) produce an action plan about complying”.
“ If they don’t comply there is recourse to the courts and also fines. There will be pressure on them if they don’t comply,” she added.
Ms Williams said the EHRC is “ready to take action” in response to questions over whether the government does have power to fine companies.
When asked whether the government would be prepared to stop signing contracts with companies that fail to comply, Ms Williams said: “If this legislation works in the way that we hope it will work, and makes organisations, public and private, look at their gender pay gap and actually take action to reduce it, then there will be no need to take procurement decisions.”
