Butler: We will close gender pay gap by fining companies

LABOUR has promised to close the gender pay gap by 2030 by fining companies that breach strict equality rules.

Under the plans, a new quango could force firms to pay hundreds of pounds a day if they fail to level the gap.

Announcing the policy on so-called Equal Pay Day – when campaigners say women effectively stop being paid for the rest of the year – Labour said the problem would take 60 years to resolve under the Government’s plans.

The Conservatives accused the party of “over-promising”, while experts said the party was peddling a “misleading narrative”.

They accused Labour of using the Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) less reflective mean gender pay gap calculation for full-time employees, of 13.1 per cent, rather than the more orthodox median measure of 8.9 per cent.

Central to Labour’s plan to close the gap within a decade would be the creation of a Workers’ Protection Agency, with powers to fine organisations that fail to report pay disparities.

Dawn Butler, the shadow women and equalities secretary, said: “Robust gender pay auditioning – including fining organisations that fail to take action – will help us deliver real change and meet this ambitious target.”

Kate Andrews, from the Institute of Economic Affairs, called Equal Pay Day “a misleading narrative”, adding: “It is plainly inaccurate to suggest women are now ‘working for free’ … as the data used … does not take into account the job, age, education, or background of male and female workers.”