Off the wire
• China Focus: New cargo service links Tibet, Nepal to boost trade  • South Sudanese top general dismisses genocide warning  • Kenyan soldiers kill 4 Al-Shabaab militants, seize weapons  • U.S. consumer sentiment surges in early December to nearly two-year high  • Gunfight ends in Indian-controlled Kashmir, 3 militants killed  • Nairobi bourse posts second lowest turnover this year as bear-run persists  • U.S. state of Florida free of Zika transmission: health agency  • Urgent: Civilian killed, 3 policemen injured in explosion in Egypt's Kafr al-Sheikh district  • U.S. stocks keep rising after ECB decision  • Former UN chief Kofi Annan calls for calm in Ghana ahead of election results  
You are here: 　 Home

Roundup: Online tool launched to expose gender pay gaps in British industry

Xinhua, December 10, 2016 Adjust font size:

Britain's Minister for Women and Equalities, Justine Greening, launched a government online tool Friday to enable women workers to see how far they are behind male colleagues in the gender pay gap.

The online tool, created by the government's Office for National Statistics, enables workers to discover pay levels in a wide range of occupations.

The government's equalities office say eliminating work-related gender gaps in pay could add 190 billion U.S. dollars annually to Britain's GDP by 2025.

"The benefits of helping women to unlock their talents are huge. It is an opportunity that neither government nor businesses can afford to ignore," said a spokesperson at the Equalities Office.

The online tool shows construction and building trades, and financial managers and directors have the highest gender pay gaps.

It has been launched as details of how large employers will have to report their gender pay and gender bonus pay gaps from next April have been published.

The regulations, which will affect almost 8,000 employers with around 11 million employees, will shine a light on workplace practices that could be preventing women from reaching the top in their organizations.

Greening said: "Britain has the lowest gender pay gap on record. There are more women in work than ever before, more women-led businesses than ever before and there are now women on every board in the FTSE 100."

"Employers must play their part in this too and take action to tackle the gender pay gap in their organization. That's why we are requiring large employers to publish their gender pay and gender bonus pay gaps for the first time ever and our regulations mean they can start getting ready to report from April next year," she added.

The construction and building industry is shown to have the widest pay gap in favor of men at 45.4 percent, followed by financial managers and directors, where the male-female pay gap is 36.5 percent. Industries where there is already equal pay include waiters and waitresses, bar staff and fishmongers. Endit