"Final warning issued to firms to report gender pay gap by midnight", 4 Apr 2018

The government has issued a final warning to businesses to report their gender pay gap by midnight...Amber Rudd, who is the minister for women and equalities as well as home secretary, said there was no excuse for businesses not to be transparent as the deadline on Wednesday approached and warned them that refusing to report was breaking the law. Organisations of 250 or more employees have until just before midnight to meet their legal requirement to report their pay gap data to the government or face enforcement action by the Equality and Human Rights Commission...Theresa May has put narrowing the gender pay gap close to the centre of her domestic policy agenda. The UK is one of the first countries to require companies to publish their figures, with Ireland and Canada following suit....Businesses will have to update their figures every year. The government argues that greater transparency will increase awareness, encourage culture change and help close the gap for good within a generation...Action the EHRC can bring against companies who fail to comply with Wednesday’s midnight deadline include court orders and unlimited fines. To date 8,713 organisations out of a total 9,000 have reported their figures, with more submitting the data every hour.