Britain announces major drive to end gender pay divide

The biggest ever drive to end the gender pay divide in British industry was announced Sunday by Prime Minister David Cameron.

New measures will see larger employers being forced to publish information about bonuses paid to men and women employees, and plans being extended for gender pay gap reporting. Cameron also said he will work with businesses to eliminate all-male boards in companies listed in the FTSE 350.

The announcements by Cameron and Equalities Minister Nicky Morgan are aimed at eradicating gender inequality in the work place and remove barriers to women's success.

It is part of wider plans to help women and black and minority ethnic (BME) groups across Britain as part of a drive to extend opportunity to all Britons.

Downing Street said on Sunday the prime minister's new pledges aim to build on his announcement in July to "end the gender pay gap in a generation."

Gender pay gap reporting will also be extended beyond private and voluntary sector employers to include the public sector.

"You can't have true opportunity without equality. There is no place for a pay gap in today's society and we are delivering on our promises to address it," Cameron said.

Women and Equalities Minister Morgan said government policy means ensuring everyone is given a fair shot to succeed, regardless of their gender.

"That's why, from the opportunities women are given in school to the ability to move up the executive pipeline, we are determined to tackle the barriers to women achieving their all," she said.

Morgan added: "The gender pay gap is the lowest since records began, but it should appal us all that, 100 years on from the Suffragette movement, we still don't have gender equality in every aspect of our society."

New legal regulations setting out how new gender rules will work in practice will be set out soon by the government.

Ann Francke, CEO of the Chartered Management Institute, said that one of the biggest drivers of gender pay discrepancy, especially at senior levels, is the bonus gap.

"There's a tendency to reward those in our own image or to think that because men may be the 'main breadwinners' they deserve higher bonuses. And men often negotiate harder or trumpet their achievements more readily," Francke said.

The number of small and medium sized enterprises in Britain led by women has increased since 2010 by 170,000 to one million, a fifth of all SMEs in Britain. Last year 223,000 women started in apprenticeships as part of the program to tackle the workplace gender gap. Endit