A guide to equal pay legislation has been launched amid fresh warnings to private firms on the subject.
Software firm NorthgateArinso urged private companies to take measures to prevent equal pay disputes from arising as it published the The Foundation of Reward.
The Equality Bill, which will be laid before parliament in the next year, will require those companies bidding for government work to publish statistics on their gender pay gap.
This will ramp up the pressure on private employers, with councils across the UK facing huge bills after equal pay claims from their workers.
Dan Wilson, director of consultancy at NorthgateArinso Reward Solutions, said: “In large organisations, it can be difficult to monitor pay levels and spot discrepancies.
“Last year, 48% of private sector services firms carried out an equal pay audit – compared to 82% in the public sector,” he continued. “The private sector needs to act now and catch up with the public sector before the proposed Equalities Bill comes into force.”
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In this clip, employment lawyer Tom Potbury of Pinsent Masons explains why firms in the private sector need to weigh carefully the pros and cons before launching an equal pay audit.
