Travel giant admits to 57% gender pay gap

TRAVEL giant TUI has admitted paying men twice as much as women as it revealed the biggest gender pay gap reported so far by a major company operating in Britain.

The group said women at its TUI Airways unit earn 56.9 per cent an hour less than men on average.

It stressed this does not reflect an ‘equal pay issue’. But, it said, the gulf in pay stems from the fact the majority of highly paid roles – including 95 per cent of pilots – are held by men, similar to EasyJet.

Firms, public sector organisations and charities with more than 250 staff must publish their gender pay gap by April as part of a government drive to crack down on discrimination in the work place.

Other firms including the Cooperative Bank and Virgin Money have already revealed double-digit differences in their hourly rate.