Pay gap between sexes to go public

By Tim Castle

LONDON (Reuters) - Companies will be encouraged to publish the pay gap between their male and female employees under proposed laws to encourage women to complain when they are underpaid, the government said on Thursday.

Equality Minister Harriet Harman told BBC radio she wanted to tackle entrenched pay discrimination against women and to create a workforce more representative of society.

The legislation would also permit positive discrimination in favour of female and ethnic-minority job candidates with equal qualifications.

It would also outlaw discrimination against the elderly in social and health services.

"It's about ... making sure we have a society which is fair for individuals and more at peace with itself, and also an economy which is more diverse and outward looking," said Harman.

Public sector employers and suppliers to the public sector would be required to publish figures showing their average gender pay gap.

Private sector companies would be only be encouraged rather than forced to follow suit, but Harman said she expected most would do so.

"We have structural discrimination on pay and we will be able to see it clearly for the first time, workplace by workplace," she said.