Almost 80% of firms that have reported gender pay gap give average man more than average woman

Of firms that have published so far, 77 per cent have median gender pay gap in favour of men

Companies like Boots UK, Channel 4 and ITV this week published their reports. All gaps were significantly in favour of male staff (Shutterstock)

The vast majority of companies that have so far published their gender pay gap have admitted to paying the average man more than the average woman, government figures reveal.

Ahead of a 4 April deadline for all UK companies employing at least 250 people to publish their gender pay gaps, data from the Government Equalities Office shows that, of the 2,743 firms that have so far published, 77 per cent have a median gender pay gap in favour of men and 14.3 per cent have a gap in favour of women. The remainder claim to have no median gender pay gap at all.

A total of around 9,000 employees will have to publish their reports within the next two weeks to comply with new legislation.

"This Government is clear that tackling injustices like the gender pay gap is part of building a country that works for everyone. Shining a light on where women are being held back means employers can begin to take action,” a spokesperson for the Home Office said.

"Reporting gender pay gap data is not optional; it is the law, and employers that do not comply will risk facing legal action from the Equality and Human Rights Commission,” the spokesperson added.

"This is the first year of reporting and we will use the results to target our efforts effectively as we continue to work with employers towards eliminating the gender pay gap."

Companies like Boots UK, Channel 4 and ITV this week published their reports. All gaps were significantly in favour of male staff. Last week HSBC admitted to having a mean gender pay gap of 59 per cent – the largest yet for a British financial firm – while Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs reported a mean gender pay gap in Britain for its international business of 55.5 per cent and a mean bonus gap for the unit of 72.2 per cent.

Under the new law, organisations must publish both their mean and median gender pay gaps but also the proportion of men and women in each quartile of the pay structure and the gender pay gaps for any bonuses paid out during the year.

Additional reporting by news wires