Some 84 per cent of businesses pay male staff more than women

In January, it was revealed the mean hourly rate for women was 52 per cent lower than for men at easyJet. Picture by Steve Parsons/PA Wire

More than 1,000 organisations with 250 or more workers have so far published the pay figures, which reveal the difference in the average hourly pay and bonuses for female and male employees.

Based on mean hourly earnings, the figures from the Equalities Office show 908 firms are paying men more than women, compared with 143 (13 per cent) which are paying female employees more than their male counterparts, with 30 (3 per cent) saying there is no difference in pay between the genders.

Among those with the biggest gender pay gap is clothing chain Phase Eight, where the hourly rate for women is 64.8 per cent lower than for men, and tourism company TUI on 56.9 per cent.

On its website, fashion retailer Phase Eight says: “Whilst on first glance, our published gender pay gap figures suggest the average man has a higher hourly rate of pay than the average female, this is misleading and does not reflect the true story and culture within the Phase Eight business.

“The figures result from the fact that, as a women’s fashion retailer, the staff in our stores are overwhelmingly female, whilst our corporate head office staff (whose pay rates are typically higher) are more evenly split between men and women. This will cause significant disparity across our results where this imbalance is not taken into consideration.”

In January, it was revealed the mean hourly rate for women was 52 per cent lower than for men at easyJet, while the figure stood at 33 per cent lower at Virgin Money.

At the time both firms said men and women in the same roles were paid the same, and put the gender pay gap down to having more men in higher-paid positions.

At the other end of the scale, where women are paid more than male colleagues, manufacturer Sweet Dreams leads the pack with the women’s hourly rate 46.4 per cent higher than men, based on the mean hourly rate.

Three Rivers District Council had a mean hourly pay of 11 per cent more for women than men.

The Government has made it mandatory for all organisations with 250 or more workers to report annually on their gender pay gap, and the remaining 8,000 are required to publish the first set of data by April.

The gender pay gap is different to “equal pay”, which deals with the pay differences between men and women who carry out the same jobs.