THE Government faced fresh anger from business groups last night after confirming plans to disclose any pay gap between male and female staff.

Equalities minister Harriet Harman insisted the move will help Britain’s recovery from recession and build a “fair” future, but it sparked warnings that job creation could be hit.

Annual gender pay audits, which will become a legal requirement in 2013 if bosses fail to join a voluntary scheme, were included in the Government’s Equality Bill.

The legislation also imposes a duty on public bodies like councils and health authorities to address social inequalities and bans age discrimination outside the workplace.

Bringing together a raft of existing laws into one “plain English” document, it contains protection for carers, breast-feeding mothers and female members of clubs such as golf clubs.

David Frost, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, said: “This Bill will discourage job creation and make employers fearful of the recruitment process. We already know that half of small firms struggle to navigate employment law and this will just add to the problem.

“The Government commitment not to introduce mandatory gender pay audits until 2013 is not worth the paper it is written on. 2013 does not feature in the Bill itself, so the Government could easily withdraw this commitment and implement audits much earlier.”

Shadow business secretary Ken Clarke said he was “unimpressed” with the Bill.

BUSINESS WARNING: P28