These New Figures Show That The Gender Pay Gap Has Widened Dramatically As Large Organisations Are Required To Hand Over Payroll Data

The latest government legislation surrounding gender equality in the workplace states that all organisations with 250 or more employees must submit reports on their gender pay gap every year in order to monitor equal payrolls between male and female employees. The first 1,000 organisations have submitted their reports, with 8,000 still due before the April deadline, and it's not looking good.

According to the Equalities Office, of the 1,000 large companies that have put figures forward, 84% of them pay men more. The rest of the breakdown involves 13% of them paying women more, and only 3% pay both men and women equally. With the data came naming and shaming of companies, including Phase Eight, TUI, Easyjet, and Virgin Money, with Phase Eight's hourly rate for women being the worst of all — 64.8% less than their male counterparts. Phase Eight were quick to retaliate to the claims, saying that the figures were imbalanced based on the male and female employees working at corporate level with men ultimately holding higher salary packets. 

On the other end of the spectrum, though, was sweet store Sweet Dreams, which pays its female employees an average of 46.4% more (based on the hourly rate).

Last year's overall average wage gap in the UK was around the 20% mark, so it'll be interesting to see what the final figures at the end of April show, and how they impact the country's average gender pay gap.