A consultation on the measure is set to begin today (14 July). It will look at the detail of how the new gender pay gap regulations will be designed, including what, where and when information will be published.
It will also seek views on what more can be done to encourage girls to consider the widest range of careers, support parents returning to work and help women of all ages reach their full potential and have the security of a well-paid job.
Writing in The Times today, Prime Minister David Cameron said the move will “cast sunlight” on the discrepancies and create the pressure needed for change.
“Our aim is to fundamentally rebalance our economy – to transform Britain from a high-welfare, high-tax, low-pay economy into a lower-welfare, lower-tax, higher-pay society," he said.
He said the government's Budget decision last week to raise the minimum wage to £7.20 from April would primarily help women who tend to be in lower paid jobs.
"It will help close the gender pay gap. But we need to go further, and that’s why introducing gender pay audits is so important.
“Transparency, skills, representation, affordable childcare – these things can end the gender pay gap in a generation. That’s my goal.”
St Ives chief executive Matt Armitage welcomed the move. He said: “We pay the right amount for any particular role, regardless of who's doing that job. It's not something that will cause us any issues or embarrassment.
“If businesses do have gender pay gaps it's right they be exposed. It's a shame rules have to be introduced to flush these things out.”
The move comes as the UK’s FTSE 100 has reached Lord Davies’ target, set in 2011, of 25% of board positions being filled by women.
Lord Davies will now work with industry experts to learn from the experiences of the past four years and make a series of recommendations on how businesses can continue to improve gender diversity.
CBI deputy director-general Katja Hall said: “Lord Davies’ successful voluntary approach demonstrates the value of encouragement as opposed to using the law.
“Businesses recognise the value of having a diverse board that reflects society and their customers. That is why we have reached this important milestone on time. But we must not let our guard drop.
“Addressing the gender pay gap is the right priority – and we should set a target for reducing it. While we believe publishing pay gap data could be misleading, we will work with the government to ensure that rules on what is published are flexible enough to be relevant to each company.
“To see real progress, however, we need to challenge occupational stereotypes by encouraging more women into male dominated industries and investing in careers advice.”
The overall gender pay gap for all employees is the lowest since records began at 19.1%, meaning that, on average, a woman earns around 80p for every £1 earned by a man.
