FIRMS will be forced to include bonus payments when they publish details of the pay gap between male and female employees, the government announced yesterday.

The requirement will also be extended to the public sector as part of a fresh push to bring women’s earnings in line with those of men.

Under the new rules, government departments and businesses with more than 250 employees will be required to publish details on pay discrimination including bonus payments in their figures.

But the demands do not go far enough and action is needed to close the unjust gap between men and women which totals about £245 billion a year, TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said.

Tory PM David Cameron said his plans to monitor salaries of 10 million British workers are meant to “name and shame” employers who pay women less for the same work as men.

On average, women earn 19.1 per cent less than men.

But Ms O’Grady accused him of spouting empty words after he chose to slash working and child tax credits despite a pre-election pledge to leave them untouched.

Ms O’Grady said: “If the government really wants to help women workers, it should also stop cutting tax credits and public services that make up a vital part of women’s income.

“It is shocking the UK still has such a large gender pay gap 45 years after the Equal Pay Act and I would urge all women concerned about their pay to join their union, to get their voice heard and their interests represented at work.”

Her views were echoed by leader of the newly formed Women’s Equality Party (WEP) Sophie Walker, who said that to achieve change Mr Cameron “needs to try a lot harder.”

Ms Walker said: “Including bonuses is a welcome step in the right direction, but WEP are pressing the government to insist on a detailed audit of pay equality by every company.

“A few simple figures don’t provide a reliable picture.”

A “very small number of people actually receive bonuses,” she said, and the pay of every worker in Britain should be recorded because “women are far more likely to occupy low-paid and insecure jobs.”